Tanya, let me know when they're in.
I sure will.
Thank you.
Thank you.
chair we have 32 attendees you may start when you like thank you good morning my name is bill
bergman and i will be chairing this morning's eba hearings with me is carol tenere or vice chair
present
Thomas Holliman our board member
present Mr. Chairman
James Snell our board member
present Mr. Chairman
and also Ismael Shahid our board secretary
he should be on very shortly
also with me is our executive director
Tanya Sunkett
and our board attorney Rebecca Cole
Before we start, here's our virtual format. Please be advised these proceedings are being recorded. By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. Video will be available by contacting our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkett, at phila .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating in my phone and you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email address and the property, the address of the property in question.
And fourth, please note the question -answer box is not for testifying or comments.
Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkit.
So let's right now look at continuances for this morning's hearings.
Number 14.
MI 2021 -002628.
1931 -33 Ron Street. Number 15, MI 2021 -002607, 1938 North 24th. Number 16, MI 2021 -002 -827 -2132
North Darien, and number 21, MI 2021 -002, I'm sorry, MI 2021 -004675 -5122 Haverford Avenue.
Those four cases will be continued. Is there anyone in the virtual audience
who has any comments relative to those cases?
i did not see any hands mr chair are there any other contingencies requested
i see no hands at this time chair thank you we'll go to our add -on list
mi 2021 002 644 1701 south 25th street i vote yes for reconsideration and rehearing
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes for reconsideration and rehearing.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes to rehearing and reconsideration.
James Snell, my vote is yes to rehearing and reconsideration.
okay here go to our regular list mi 2021
Go to our regular list.
NI 2021 -004698 -1422.
Partner, interruption.
Interruption, this is Tanya.
We do have Mr. Richardson with his hands up about the continuous request.
Good morning, Mr. Richardson.
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Charles Richardson.
Yes, Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312 City Hall.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Do you have a continuance request?
Yes, sir.
5832 Old York Road, appeal number ZP -2021 -012523.
The attorney had actually sent in a request, and I believe it may have reached you guys already, but I don't know that it's been addressed as yet.
Okay, let me see here.
What number is that?
It's number 22, Mr. Chairman.
I think.
We have no exhibits with that.
is the attorney
is there an attorney on the line
I also know that there was no
RCO meeting that took place
we will continue
number 22 we have no exhibits and it's a
first listing thank you
thank you Mr. Richardson
Here we go. Number one, MI 2021 004698 1422 South Napa Street, RCO Tasker Morris Neighborhood, letter of support, Attorney Brent Feldman.
Chair, Mr. Feldman is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
Mr. Feldman
Mr. Feldman
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
Yes Mr. Chair and members of the board
Good morning Brett Feldman
1835 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
B -R -E -T -T, Feldman, F -E -L -D -M -A -N.
I represent the applicant affiliated to by LLC.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
I do, Mr. Chair.
And your applicant, what's his relationship to the property?
The owner.
Thank you.
Our vice chair has a few questions.
And, Mr. Feldman, do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've sent in timely all of the required documents.
Is that correct?
Yes, it is correct.
Okay, you may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, can everyone see my screen?
yes great it's always the most stressful point for me um so again uh good morning uh members of
the board brett feldman i represent the applicant uh this is a um the cdc exhibits in front of you
exhibits uh one through uh ten which i'd ask to be incorporated into the record uh this is for
one single family home um this is uh as i'll show you this is one block in the tasker morris neighborhood
But it's actually, this is the, I think we've been here two or three times to the board previously.
I understand there's new board members, but as you see at exhibit tab four, we've had, this is just a smattering of the approvals on this block for 10 to 15 other single family homes that are exactly identical to this home that you see today.
Unfortunately, we couldn't make the other agendas.
So we're, this is the one that didn't make it to the agendas back a year ago or two years ago, but here we are.
I'll just go through this briefly. You'll see at Exhibit Tab 3 a letter of support from the
community. We worked out a lot of the issues in the past two hearings as far as staging and
underpinning and all those different issues. So this one was a little bit easier and we have
a little bit easier and we have another letter of support. Let me just move through the exhibits.
another letter of support.
With me today also is our project architect Logan Dry and Yossi Abraham who is the principal
of the company. Deeds, our tax cert and then let me just get to kind of the meat of the case.
taxer. And then this really, I think, summarizes the
case here. This is the block, the 1400 block of Napa Street. It's zoned single -family. We're
proposing a single -family home. The red homes, all the houses in the red have previously been
approved by the zoning board and we have zoning permits for uh this is the blue right here this
is the one uh that is in front of you today um the proposal for a um almost entirely entirely
co -compliant home um is is is what you'll see today um and i'll just get right to this here
again this is this is the block um these are pictures pictures on the block um
So our application today is for a home that has been, it's marked right here, it's imminently
dangerous and it's been boarded up and is really a blight on the neighborhood.
And then these are the other homes on the block that we had prior approvals.
There's the posting.
Here's L &I clean and seal because of the challenges it's been to keep this home.
without people getting into it. These are the zoning posters. And then here is our CO letter
of support. It was unanimous. Here are all the zoning permits for the other 10 to 15 homes that
we have on the block that we have approved. I'll just go through that real quickly.
Here's the refusal letter. Almost all the refusals I'll show you are for a little balcony
in the rear that once you put the balcony in the rear it impacts the rear yard setback so we we do
have actually the rear yard depth you need nine we actually have 11 but because there's this balcony
in the rear that is one of the primary refusals you'll see one two three of those grounds
and then there's a front setback refusal that we received we received that because we're trying to
match up with the existing homes on the left and right like we did on all the other ones. We tried
to make this as contextual as possible. So that is really the refusals, which are the same refusals
on all the other cases. And then here is the home. It is contextual, a three -story home, a little
setback here in the front like the other homes. And this is that balcony here. You measure,
We don't get credit for this part of the rear yard because the balcony is above, and that's primarily where our refusals are.
But we did want to have a little bit of outdoor space in the rear to make these as livable as possible.
Here is the zoning plan.
There's a garage. There's an easement in the rear where the garage is rear loaded and the space is under the home.
So there's no curb cut in the front. Here is the floor plans.
And Logan, our project architect, Logan, do you want to add anything?
or have I, I'm just asking Logan Dry, our project architect, if he wanted to add anything further
to my explanation of his plan. Mr. Feldman, I think you've explained that very well for us.
Okay. Okay. So with that, just notice the community meetings. And if we have any questions,
otherwise I can ask my client, Yossi Abraham, to adopt my comments.
What do you have your client? Okay. Uh, Mr. Abraham, are you on the line?
I've seen no hands with that name at this time, chair.
Okay. Mr. Feldman, you're an officer of the court and we will take your testimony.
Great. I will, I will accept, I will accept that. And, uh,
I would just add that all these exhibits be incorporated into the record.
Thank you. Questions from the board.
no mr chairman no mr chairman questions from the questions from the virtual audience
Questions from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have someone with their hand up.
It says call -in user.
Call -in user, could you unmute yourself and wait for the chair, please?
Could you state your name, please?
Hi, Tiffany Green.
Good morning, Chair.
I'm sorry.
I was trying to respond.
Ms. Green, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
Could you do me a favor?
Could you spell your name for the court reporter?
Yes, Tiffany, T -I -F -F -A -N -Y, G -R -E -E -N, with the Concerned Citizens Appointing Brief RCO.
And I apologize, I had my hand up for you.
Were you involved in this case here?
No, I had my hand up for 1701, the reconsideration, and I wanted to address that.
But please, Chair, let me know when I can do that.
You still have, Tiffany, it's Carol Tenere.
You still have to be sworn in.
All right.
this isn't for our case now this is not the case that you want to be involved with though right
so so we will call that case and we will get to you okay um chair this is for the um reconsider
but i know that case has already been handled right so we're not going to call it 1701 has
already been handled that will be miss green we will relist that and we will make sure you're
notified that you could testify okay all right continue mr feldman i i think that was all i i
i just asked that the board uh any questions testimony any questions from the virtual audience
for this case i see no hands at this time chair planning commission good morning chair bergman
this is ian hegarty for the philadelphia city planning commission last name spelled h -e -g -a -r -t -y
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, sir. I do. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing single family zoning at this block.
For dimensional variances, board members were typically looking for the applicant to show as required by the code that the dimensional requirements of the code are causing an economic detriment and that the proposed size is consistent with the surrounding neighborhood.
those are the two criteria. The appellant here is proposing six dimensional variances,
none of which we feel are necessary to make use of the property as a single family dwelling,
and none of which are consistent with the built form of other houses on the block or in the
neighborhood. The non -conforming buildings, notwithstanding, that were recently approved,
we don't think that the applicant has submitted evidence to demonstrate that this is the form of
proposed building is consistent with the adjacent properties and so uh we don't believe the
hardship exists and we recommend that the board deny the variances thank you thank you and mi
2021 004698 1422 south napa street i vote yes carol tanari my vote is yes
james snell i vote yes
my vote thomas holliman my vote is yes thank you thank you as always for your time and
consideration be well thank you um case number two um this will be case two
to 13 and Tanya I'll read them all into the record yes please
MI 2022 00921 1810 East Moy Mencing Avenue Parcel A
MI 2022 00927 1810 East Moy Mencing Avenue Parcel C
MI 2022 -000928 -1810, Moimensing, Parcel D. MI 2022 -001107, 1810 East Moimensing Avenue, Parcel E.
MI 2022 -001112 -1810 Moimensing Avenue, Parcel G. MI 2022 -001234 -1810 East Moimensing Avenue, Parcel H.
MI 2022 -001235 -1810 East Moimensing Avenue, Parcel I.
MI 2022 -001261, 1810 East Moyen -Banching Avenue, Parcel J.
MI 2022 -001259.
MI 2022 -001259, 1810 East Moin -Mensink Avenue, Parcel K.
MI 2022 -001266, 1810 East Moin -Mensink Avenue, Parcel L.
MI 2022 -000924, 1810 East Moin -Mensink Avenue, Parcel B.
and MI -2022 -001265 -1810 East Moyman -Mensing Avenue.
Mr. DeMarco is the attorney of record.
Good morning, members of the board.
Thank you for that, Mr. Chairman.
Sorry for the overbearing number of names today.
No, no, no, do me a favor.
Just state your name and spell it for the court reporter.
Richard DeMarco, D -E -M -A -R -C -O.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Our attorney, Rebecca Cole, would like to make a statement.
Thank you.
Yes, the city is taking a position of non -opposition, and they want this statement read into the record.
The denials of the administrative adjustments in these cases are based upon city planning disapproving the requests on account of the lot sizes.
the original refusals in 2020 were issued for lot size and rear yard non -compliance and were
also disapproved by planning the board then granted variances for both the board has the
discretion to determine whether the addition of the easements in the rears of the properties in
question constitutes an increase in the intensity of the variances the city will defer to the board's
discretion. Mr. DeMarco, I'm going to call for a vote. Sharon, Tanya, do I have to list all of them
again for the vote? No, you stated them, so you can say, as previously stated, all cases for
Moya Mensing. As previously stated, Moya Mensing. I'm sorry, Chair, but I believe, Mr. DeMarco,
you do have a case to present, right? Well, I'm happy to allow the vote. Here's my only,
I just want to make sure that, and it's partly my fault, some of the correspondents had 11 cases.
It's actually 12.
You've listed 12 cases.
If I can just read into the record the ZP numbers of the 12 cases so we don't have a problem down the road with L &I.
L &I wanted us to file this back in 2020 with all separate applications for each lot and an application separately for the subdivision itself.
so we have to alter all 12 of those if i could just read them into the record then we can vote
if that's okay why don't you read them in the record good yeah it's zp 2021 000 232
ZP 2021 -000233, ZP 2021 -000235, ZP 2021 -000237, ZP 2021 -000239, ZP 2021 -000241,
ZP 2021 -000261, ZP 2021 -000262, ZP 2021 -000263, ZP 2021 -000266, ZP 2021 -000267,
And then the last one, which is the subdivision, is ZP 2020 -001846.
I just want to make sure that the record reflects that so we don't have a problem with Al and I down the road.
And I think everybody understands why we're here.
It's for the three -foot address.
We got it.
We got it.
Thanks, Chair.
This is Tanya.
May I ask a question of Mr. DeMarco?
Of course.
Are these all the original ZP numbers?
nothing has been amended. Exactly. Thank you very kindly. But I apologize Tanya. I think
my cover letter may have left one out and that's why there was some confusion. My apologies. No
problem. Thank you kindly. So I'm going to have a vote for number two through 13 that I originally
read. I vote yes to the appeal for granted for all. Harold Tenere my vote is yes to the appeals
granted for all thomas halliman my vote is yes to appeals granted for all james snell my vote is yes
for appeals granted for all ishmael shaheed my vote is yes to appeals granted for all
thank you mr demarco thank you for your time and consideration i appreciate
Thank you, Mr. DeMarco.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I appreciate it.
Everybody have a good day.
You too.
I'm going to move now to case 17.
MI 2021 -002 -608, 2235 South 7th Street.
Councilman Squilla, letter of strong opposition.
He refers to the RCO's letter of strong opposition.
Joseph Vaccaro is the attorney.
Mr. Vaccaro, if you're in the virtual audience, can you please raise your hand?
He's coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
Mr. Vaccaro?
Mr. Vaccaro?
Can you hear me?
Yes. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Yes, certainly.
My name is Joseph Vaccaro.
Could you spell it for the corporate footer, too, please, sir?
Unmute. You're muted.
Unmute.
Mr. Vaccaro?
What is going on?
Mr. Vaccaro?
Mr. Vaccaro, spell your name for the court reporter, please.
V -A -C -C -A -R -O.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.
All right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Could you identify your client and their relationship to the property?
Yes, sir. The client is PA Mini Market Inc.
mm -hmm i have miss madeline sanchez a representative of the company
it is a retail store operating at the location under a pursuant
all right our our vice chair has a few questions for you you're going in and out of your
conversation good morning mr vicara do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate
to its accuracy it is not a refusal it is a referral but yes okay do you agree to wait
do you agree to waive it yes i do yes okay it appears that you've submitted the required
documents is that correct yes i did okay great uh you may proceed and you can share your screen
okay thank you and sorry about the technical difficulties earlier
oh that's okay we all have them all right i will share my screen
and this is an application for some amusement games at this grocery store that is operating
at this location it is operating on the first floor and this application is for up to three
amusement games for the store's customers if i may show the rendering of the store
This location that I'm circling is on the north side of the building. That's where the grocery store is selling its products. And this area that I'm circling is the proposed area where the amusement games are planned to be located.
this is an application for a special exception not for a use variance by way of background my
client had initially a uh an amusement license um which had expired this month so there is a history
of there having been a license issued for this property um we understand that there is a a letter
We understand that there is a letter of strong opposition, as was quoted by the chairman.
of strong opposition.
However, by way of background, there was an initial meeting of the RCO on July 24, 2021, where the only people that had shown up at that RCO meeting was myself, a representative of my client, Mr. Carlos Pavone, Mr. Baldwin, the president of the RCO and his vice president.
We were the only four people that had shown up at that meeting.
During that RCO meeting, Mr. Baldwin had made some pretty strong allegations against my client, and when I had attempted to present some contradictory evidence, which contradicted his point of view, he immediately and abruptly shut the meeting down.
He called the Councilman Squilla, and it was agreed among all parties that the meeting would be rescheduled to August 6th.
At that August 6th meeting, I had appeared along with Ms. Sanchez.
She's sitting to my left in my office right now, along with Mr. Pavone.
And there were many more participants at that meeting.
we all exchanged our views and and the meeting had concluded however there was no vote at that
meeting as is normally done after an RCO meeting the applicant and the applicant's representatives
they leave the meeting so that the people that have actually bothered to show up at the RCO
meeting can take a vote, yay or nay, on the application. Well, that never occurred at that
RCO meeting on August 6th. In fact, Mr. Baldwin and I and some other people, we sat and we chatted
for a good half hour, 45 minutes after that meeting, and then we all parted company. There
was never a vote of the RCO, of the participants of that RCO meeting on August 6th. So when this
board is going to consider this application and the evidence before it, including this letter
from the RCO, what we're asking is that the board give it the appropriate weight that it's due
in light of what occurred on July 24th when nobody had shown up, despite there being adequate
notice to the neighborhood, and as well as what did not occur on August 6th, an actual vote of
those people that had participated. So it's our position that there is insufficient opposition
to what my client has has planned for this site um these machines are legal they require a special
exception and we're going through the process and here we are to ask for this special exception
um i had put up the posters um of this zoning hearing on february 16th of 2022 and and we have
followed the rules, we have followed the procedures, and we ask that the board take that
into consideration in this application for this special exception. Of note, we would also like
to point out that there are other stores in the area, specifically 2112 South 7th, as well as
2039 South 7th, and 2101 South 6th, three other stores close to the store that's the subject of
this hearing and they're operating the same types of machines i've searched their records i don't
see any applications for any special exceptions for those stores and yet i also don't see any
violations concerning the machines that they're operating but this is going on in the neighborhood
and and it's our client it's my client's position that that uh they should be permitted to do it
My client is following the rules and doing her obligations and fulfilling her obligations by seeking the appropriate permits.
And we're asking for the board to consider that.
With respect to the documentary evidence that has been submitted, we have the rendering.
We have the licenses.
And I'm showing you the amusement license now.
It had expired on March 17 of 2022.
we have the photographs of the inside and the outside of the building if i could show you
We have the photographs of the inside and the outside of the building, if I could show you that.
Here were the photos.
Now, when I had taken those photos, yes, the machines were there.
There were four machines.
I don't, Mr. Vaccaro, I don't see the photos.
Do you see them now?
I just pulled it up.
how do i share mr vaquero we're looking at the poster i think it looks like
can you unshare the document and then reshare the form certainly uh i hit stop share
and i'll reshare now let's stop
is that it is that yes so thank you okay so here when i had taken these photos yes my client had
four machines but they were removed since they didn't have the proper clearances from the city
and yes there were four machines at the location but this application is for three no more than
three. Scrolling down, they have an ATM, they have refrigerators for other foods, and then I'm
showing you other angles of the store. Here are the various sundries that they're selling.
Here's the front of the store.
It's a corner store.
I'm going to show you, you were not able to see the licenses before.
So here's their sales tax license with the state.
Here's the commercial activity license.
And scrolling down, here's the amusement license, which had expired on 3 -17 of 2022.
well they have their tax clearance certificate
they have their tax clearance certificate and and if the board has any questions i'm happy to
answer them i do have i do have my uh my client uh my client's representative madeline sanchez
who's sitting next to me but her english is uh very limited so so i'm talking for this as an
Officer, the court will take your testimony as being adopted.
Thank you.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Thank you, Chair Bergman.
This is Ian Hegarty for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
in 2019 the zoning map was amended from cmx 2 to cmx 2 .5 in this location this is not in accord
with recommendations from the comprehensive plan this proposed special exception will not cause
detrimental impacts to the neighborhood beyond what might normally be expected for this use
and so therefore the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the special
exception. MI 2021 -002 -608 -2235 South 7th Street, I vote no. Carol Tannery, my vote is no. Thomas
Holloman, my vote is no. James Snell, my vote is no. Ishmael Shahi, my vote is no.
thank you sir m i 2021 004670 2616 north 11th street rco 37th ward letter of support
henry clinton attorney chair mr clinton is coming back in as a panelist now
Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Henry Clinton here.
Could you spell your name for the court reporter, Mr. Clinton?
Sure. Clinton, C -L -I -N -T -O -N, 1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146.
1313 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia PA, 19146. Do you swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client and the
relationship they have to the property? Sure. My client is Rafi, R -A -F -I, Hawk, B -A -L -K. And he is
one of the principals of the LLC, which owns the property, and he is on the call. Thank you. Our
Vice Chair has a few questions.
Good morning, Mr. Clinton.
Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you submitted all of the required documents timely.
Is that correct?
That is correct.
You may proceed and you may share your screen.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is that visible enough?
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
Henry Clinton on behalf of Four Castle LLC and the principal, Rafi Balk, who is on the call.
This concerns 2616 North 11th Street. This is my presentation package, which contains a table of
contents and exhibits AA to A11, which I ask to be admitted into the record. This is my appearance
statement, and this is the refusal of the key document that we're discussing today. So my
client's proposal is for three dwelling units in this to be constructed on this vacant lot. And as
you can see from the aerial photographs, which I will show you, it is consistent with five or six
other three unit apartment buildings on the same block on the same side of the street. We have no
refusals for height, open space, or rear yard. And because we are in the north central Philadelphia
overlay district the requirement is 425 square feet per unit and you can see what is required
and we have 1 ,120 which is just a little bit more than 10 percent off of the requirement
we do have an RCO letter of support as was mentioned at the outset
from the 37th ward and I just note that it is a unanimous letter of support
these are the photographs this is the west side of north 11th street there are five three family
dwellings right here and our vacant lot is to the south of the five existing three unit
apartment buildings across the street is a school
this is a ground level view looking north indicating the five triplexes in play and
this is our vacant lot to the left. Again, just another photograph for perspective. This is a
school across the street. Again, this is the vacant lot on the west side of the street.
These are our plans that I can walk through for the board.
First floor and basement is one unit. Second floor is another unit. Third floor is the third
unit. Each unit has an area for trash in the kitchen, a separate closet. You can see the trash
here on the second floor, another trash closet on the third floor, and the third floor has open space
on the roof, and the basement of first floor has open space in the rear yard. The rest of the
documents are tax certification and other pro forma documents that are typically presented before the
board in an application such as this. So in summation, we have a situation where
it's rather unique in the sense that this block already has five, three family dwellings to the
north of our vacant lot. It's consistent with the situation on the block. It's in harmony with the
code. We are not altering the essential character of the neighborhood at all. We're not detrimental
to the public welfare.
We're not impacting light or air
of any property on the street.
Our use is consistent
with the other properties on the street.
And we're not injurious
to any public health
or life or safety issue on the block.
So with that,
I would conclude my presentation,
ask the board if they have any questions
and ask my client to adopt my testimony.
But you have a client,
do your client, please, Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Ball, can you raise your hand
answer you can be unmuted. Mr. Balk, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please?
Mr. Balk.
mr ball can you state your name for the record please
He is on the call.
he is on the call he just texted me
He just texted me.
Mr. Clinton, you're...
Hello, sir?
Mr. Clinton, you're an officer of the court.
Your testimony's fine.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have someone with the telephone number ending in 1657.
Telephone caller, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name, please, and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, hi. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. This is Rosalind Bulk.
I couldn't get through to the Zoom. I'm the owner from the 2660.
Mr. Bulk, we already have the testimony. We're fine, and thank you for calling in.
any other comments or questions from the virtual audience
there are no other hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chair bergman
for the philadelphia city planning commission members of the board we believe the proposed
variance is minimal and does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code
city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance thank you
MI -2021 -004670 -2616 North 11th Street. I vote yes.
Harold Tineri, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, Mr. Clinton.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the board. Have a great day.
MI -2021 -004 -695 -2825 Nestling Road.
Pro se owners on deed, James and Audrey Steele.
RCO, Normandy Civic Association, letter of support.
Chair, Mr. Steele is coming back in as a panelist now.
Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Steele. Could you state your name and spell it for our court reporter?
James Steele. J -A -M -E -S -S -T -E -E -L.
Turn your mic down.
All right, turn your mic. Thank you.
Sir, you have on too many devices.
All right.
do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do our vice chair has a few questions for you yes do you agree to wave the reading
of the refusal and stipulate no strike that um have you emailed the exhibit packet with
the required documents consisting of proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal
photos and or plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with the
rco and do you have a letter yes i have you may proceed um i don't have the things ready on the
computer because i thought like everything that i sent in was good we're we're not very good on
the computer and things i have all the documents here with me okay so so mr steel this is what
we're going to do we're going to continue the case and what you can do is you can talk to the
staff sometimes in the next few weeks or so and figure out how we're going to go about doing this
but we need it up on the screen and if you don't have it done now what we're going to do is continue
it and then find a way to have you be able to do that is that okay okay all right but we do have
we have everything here we just have to find a way that you can present
okay okay uh hold on can you hold on one minute sure i can yeah my brother -in -law's on and he
says that he can put it up on the screen is that possible um and will you be able to see it
um put it up on the screen will you be able to say it
i'm not sure tanya your suggestions um if they can go forward with him
presenting and um the other talking through it it's all good for me that's fine then let's let's
let otherwise if that doesn't work we i can um give him a short continuance okay let's try to
have your brother -in -law come in and put it up on the screen okay
He's going to have to raise his hand, right?
Is your brother -in -law with you, Mr. Steele?
No, he's at work right now.
He's going to have to call in.
um but is he already on the zoom i believe so and his name is
todd bianowitz okay staff can we promote todd only for the purpose of sharing his screen
i don't see anyone with that name i should know he's he's here i should
i see it there he is okay yeah he's already there
our top would you put it up on your screen please yes
Todd, are you putting it up?
Yes, I am trying to work on that.
First, would you like to see the application for appeal first?
That's fine.
Yep, that's okay.
All right, Todd, you can't testify.
Todd, you can't testify.
Mr. Steele, you can testify.
Tell us what you did, you applied, and tell us what you're going to do.
Well, the issue that I had was the setback.
It's 14 and a half inches over the 25 -foot setback from the street.
All right.
Show us the rest of the materials, and then we'll move on.
Do you have any photos?
Todd if you can put a few put the photos up there they are that's one from the front
here's a side view
okay who's talking todd let's see todd yes this is todd i'm sorry you can't you can't talk that
okay thank you any other photos todd
i have one more okay all right
all right all right okay so mr steel yes you're 14 inches difference right the setback yes and
and you went to the rco yes and the rco gave you a letter of support yes they have all right
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty
for the philadelphia city planning commission members of the board this proposed dimensional
variance is minimal and it does not conflict with the purpose and spirit of the zoning code
city planning commission recommends that the board grant the variance mi 2021 004695
2825 nestling road i vote yes carol tenary my vote is yes thomas halliman my vote is yes
james snell my vote is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
Yes. Mr. Steele, thank you. You have all votes of yes and you're approved. Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Steele. Okay. MI 2021 -002538 -3549 Sunnyside Avenue. RCO, East Falls Community
Council, letter of support, George Gringas and Elizabeth Leffer, pro se owners per the deed.
and elizabeth leffer pro se owners per the deed
george
elizabeth
hello can you see us it comes up his name mark hansen mark mark hansen is our architect
okay what record who did our application for us george george what we want george you're going to
be the one he can't the architect cannot testify so you're going to have to testify yes that would
we were so do me a favor state your name spelled for the court reporter my name is george gregonis
That's G -E -O -R -G -E -G -R -I -G -O -N -I -S.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Several questions from our vice chair.
Good morning.
Have you emailed the exhibit packet with the required documents consisting of proof of ownership, tax clearance,
a copy of the refusal photos and plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing
and have you met with the rco and do you have a letter yes to all those uh except for the tax
clearance except for the tax clearance which we just emailed over on monday i actually had to go
down to city hall and get get our certificate issued then they are heavily backed up down
there at the tax clearance unit right now. But you did get a copy of it. Yes, I did. Our tax
clearance is fine. Thank you. You may proceed and share your screen. Thank you. Thank you.
I would like to, Mark Hansen, our architect of record, has the entire packet for photos and
the relevant documentation that was emailed off to you the other day i just like the last uh
applicant i'm very unsavvy when it comes to this zoom platform so i would like to am i allowed to
invite our architect in to share that information just like the last applicant did he can share
yeah he can share the screen he can testify yes okay can we invite mark
yes to do so he can share it yeah he can share his screen okay mark are you there
mr hanson you can you share your screen
if you're there raise your hand please he's available and sir if you would like you can
start sharing your screen
mark are you there
Mr. Hanson could you start sharing the screen please
Mr. Hanson
Chair we may have to move on
I agree
okay george yes all right we're going to have to move on we can't get mr hansen on
can can we move to later in the meeting can i be shifted to the end of the meeting and we'll get
this straight and then i will have the stuff to share on my screen i will get the packet
but i would say that the the end of the meeting could be in the next 10 minutes
i understand i can have that information in the next 10 minutes okay had i known my my okay
Tanya, I'll go along with the other cases that we have, and then we'll come back.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Chair.
All right.
Okay, let me see here.
21, 22.
Be right with you.
We're going to go to the add -ons that we have.
MI 2021 004512 1713 South 18th Street.
1713 South
18th Street.
We have testimony
from the RCO
letter of support.
Planning Commission?
Yes, sir. Thank you.
This is one for you to vote.
Yeah, thank you, sir. Ian Haggerty
for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.
members of the board the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the rsa5 single family
zoning at this location um this was as you recall a property that was damaged by fire
while the fire damage is regrettable we don't believe it establishes a use hardship which has
to be tied to a peculiar condition of the property and not an economic need um the city planning
commission uh recommends that the board deny the variance if the board's inclined to grant we would
recommend that the board consider a proviso condition limiting the use to two dwelling
units in order to better conform to the surrounding context. MI 2021 004512 1713 South 18th Street
I vote yes proviso only two units. Carl Tenere my vote is yes with proviso. Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes with proviso
ishmael shaheed my yes my vote is yes with proviso
mr chair mr snell has been knocked off okay we're we have to go that's good he's been knocked
off the screen mi 2021 004518 1913 hoffman street
community development coalition rco representative testified at the rco support
planning commission thank you chair bergman ian hegarty for the city planning commission
members of the board the comprehensive plan uh recommends no change to the rm1 zoning at this
location. We believe the proposed variances here are minimal and do not conflict with the purpose
and spirit of the zoning code. We recommend that the board grant the variances. Thank you. MI 2021
004518 1930 Hoffman Street. I vote yes with provisos. One, revised plan, one page, and two,
includes variance for open area open area carol tennari my vote is yes proviso thomas holloman
my vote is yes with proviso ishno shaheed my vote is yes with proviso
thank you um tanya why don't we take a five minute break and we'll come back if we can get
this working we will and if not we'll have to continue it is that okay that was good cheer
all right thank you five minute break everyone okay mr chair
yep yep he said he's ready to go to you're in the chat okay
let me break with you can can you hear me yeah we can and can you see our exhibit uh cover sheet
let me let me did i already swear you sir yes you did okay will you need to swear my wife as well
she's also the owner of the building in here at this meeting is she going to testify
uh she doesn't want to but well it's fine you're fine okay okay thank you our vice chair has a few
questions for you good morning have you emailed the exhibit packet with all of the required
documents consisting of proof of ownership tax compliance a copy of the refusal photos and
plans of the property five days in advance of this hearing and have you met with your rco and
do you have a letter yes to all and okay great sorry for interrupting you what were you going
to say as i stated before the tax clearance unit is very busy so we emailed in the tax
clearance on monday i actually had to go downtown to get that okay great i had to pick that document
it up. If I may ask a question, have you included it in this packet? Yes, it should be included
at the end of the packet right there. Perfect. You can continue. Okay, sir, you may proceed
and begin sharing your screen. Thank you. Thank you for giving me a little bit of grace
to the board. I appreciate it. We purchased 3549 Sunnyside in 2009, and it was a blighted
structure. We achieved all the zoning approvals and whatnot.
We achieved all the zoning approvals and whatnot and ended up turning it into a three dwelling unit apartment building, along with a first floor commercial space.
In the past 12 years of ownership, we really haven't had much viable commercial interest in that space on the first floor.
um and we would like to get the approval to go ahead and turn that into another dwelling unit
um so that we can rent the thing out uh our costs on this building have gone up considerably over
the years and and it is an investment property um so we are requesting that the board uh hear our
plea and um you know if we can we'd like to turn that 700 square feet into an apartment
The RCO here has approved it unanimously.
We didn't have any opposition to this.
So they support it.
um we have all of our notice that was put in as well
uh all of our mailings and whatnot to notify the community
does the board have any questions no keep going
so that's the front entrance there for the that is the front entrance yes and that goes into
the the commercial shop space which is about 700 square feet on the inside and the residential
entry right now is right there on the left side it's on Crescent Street so there's uh an entryway
the back portion to the left of the cursor that's one apartment unit and that on the second floor too
um and then the other two apartment units are in the main portion of the building right there
that's the second floor unit and then there's a third floor unit there
so when we got this property there was a hole in the roof all the windows were falling out of it
it had caution tape around it uh the back end was all burned out um the garage was collapsed
that's on the back corner there that's all the way on the back of the lot right there yeah so
we went ahead and did a lot of work do you have drawings do you have drawings what you're going
to do on the first floor uh no we we haven't finished our planning on we just have a site
plan right now i mean we're just planning on doing you know like a one bedroom down there
that's it's it's small i mean it can't really be much else
you know by the time you fit a bathroom and a kitchen in there
you know you need some living space and whatnot oh there we go right
have you ever had a commercial or a retail tenant in the first floor
no i haven't i mean i just use it for storage space for my own business
that's all and my own fun stuff keep my bikes in there and whatnot so
okay questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chair
questions or comments from the virtual audience then so i
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
Thank you, Chair Bergman. Ian Hegarty for the City Planning Commission. Members of the Board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the existing RSA 5 single -family zoning at this location. However, given the existing legal three -family with commercial space in this structure, we believe the conversion of the ground floor use as a residential unit is appropriate and will have a similar or less impact than the existing commercial use.
City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the variance.
Thank you, Ian.
MI 2021 -002 -538 -3549 Sunnyside Avenue, I vote yes.
MI 2021 -002 -538 -35...
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Good luck with your project.
i i is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been heard
i see no hands at this time chair donna i think that's it for the until two o 'clock
sounds good to meet you all right thank you everybody that's a record breaker
there also was 13 cases were one but we'll we'll take it carol thank you take it i know
hey carl give me know my greetings i will i definitely will is all right okay
we're ready to go tanya yes sure we're all ready for you i'm here bill i was having a lot of
technical issues here. I'm on. Thanks, Tanya. Sure. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Bill
Bergman. I will be chairing the ZBA hearings this afternoon. With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair.
Present. Ismail Shahid, our board secretary. Here, Mr. Chair. Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman. James Snell, our board member. Present, Mr. Chairman. Also here is our
executive director, Tanya Sunkett, and our attorney, Rebecca Cole. Before we begin, here's
the virtual format we use. Be advised these proceedings are being recorded. By participating,
you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded. A video will be available by contacting our
executive director, Tanya Sunkett, at phila .gov. For the benefit of our court sonographer,
we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying. Three, if you are
participating in my phone, if you wish to testify, press star nine to raise your hand and star six
to unmute. To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548. Leave your email and the address
of the property in question. And lastly, the question answer box is not for testimony or
comments. Any comments should be directed to our Executive Director, Tanya Sunkish. We're to look
at this afternoon's continuances. Number two, MI 2021 -005316 -1613 Church Lane. Is there anyone
in the virtual audience have comments about that being continued?
i see no hands at this time chair thank you we also number six mi 2021 003788 5951
kimball avenue joseph console and also mr richardson from the council person's office
please come on this to zoom
mr consul good afternoon chair bergman joe consul could you spell your name for the court
reporter please yes it's joseph j -o -s -e -p -h consul that's c -o -n -s -o -l -e you swear or firm
to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth i do mr richardson are you out there
You've already been sworn to state your name for the court reporter.
Charles Richardson from the Office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass, room 312.
Thank you.
I understand you would like a continuance.
Could you please talk about that a minute?
Sure, Mr. Chair.
The applicant has had two opportunities to meet with the community, and it has not occurred as yet.
But the unfortunate thing is that they had two different meetings.
One was in December and one was in most recently on the 21st.
And the last one was the one where they were the provider of the Zoom link and could not get the it was supposed to start at six o 'clock and it did not begin until 630.
and the people that were waiting uh to come in uh could not get they could not get in and
to come in uh could not get they could not get in and they left and did not return um
and they left and did not return.
they haven't met with the community as yet so it it really they do need to meet with
the community before and the rcos the two rcos are willing to meet with them uh once they receive
a new date mr council yes uh chair and board um we originally had a december 22nd zba date
We met with the community on the 7th of December. They weren't happy with the quality of the floor plans that we were showing them. They refused to hold a vote. There was several neighbors there at that time. There didn't seem to be much animosity towards the project, just they wanted to see better floor plans.
So we agreed. We continued the ZBA until today. And then two days ago, we met. Mr. Richardson says 630. It was not even 615 when everyone got into the meeting. There was four folks on their side, myself and my client on our side.
And there was some claim that folks dropped off, but I don't know that to be true. But either way, we were ready to present. We were there. We had everything they had asked for. We updated the plans to their specifications, and they said, we're not going to vote. We need you to continue it again.
And my client got the refusal back in July of last year.
And financially, she can't have this held until September.
We want to meet with the community.
We think it's a worthy project.
And so we were hoping that we could do something along the lines of holding this, you know,
holding the vote for a couple of weeks to allow us to get back in front of the RCO so
we can show them the project, but being able to present today.
So my client's not not prejudiced because we would assume we'd be pushed back to the summer, if not even past that.
So that's just so. So I'm going to continue it, Tanya.
I want to continue it as quick as possible and then must be tried on both sides.
Tanya, as you wish here. OK, so, Mr.
Consul, Mr. Richardson, we're going to continue this.
I'm going to try to get it back as quick as possible.
but then we have to with next time we have to try it okay yes sir thank you all right thank you thank
you any other continuances requested
chair i see no hands at this time case one mi 2021 005249 1529 south street
Center City Residents Association, letter of non -opposition.
Mr. DeMarco is the attorney.
Mr. DeMarco?
He's coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Thank you. Perfect.
hi hi mr chairman i was waiting to be promoted good afternoon sure you were already sworn
just state your name for the court reporter yes good afternoon richard demarco uh d -e -m -a -r -c -o
mr demarco could you identify your client and the relationship with the property
yes client is george bobe he is uh the tenant for the property for the first floor use thank you
you've already been sworn. Our vice chair has a few questions. Sure.
I have, I have a barking dog, so I apologize.
Do you agree with the reading of refusal and stipulate to it's accuracy?
Yes. It's a referral and I agree to stipulate.
okay national puppy day no it is i assume that you've sent in the required documents
yes okay you may proceed and you may share your screen yes i can be brief we have non -opposition
as stated from the um center city residents civic association you should see it on your screen at
this point um as i said my clients george bobe proposing a a new a tattoo parlor um met with
ccra no opposition there's a petition of support in our materials as well i can go quickly through
mr bobe's testimony if um we can um unmute him now uh why don't you raise your hand virtually
George, and I would just say that there's nothing unusual about this
There's nothing unusual about this proposed use that would render it more impactful than other uses of the same type.
proposed use that would render it more impactful.
According to the standard for special exception, uses requires no variances.
It's a special exception case. And as you all know, South Street's a known commercial corridor with an eclectic mix of restaurants, stores, uses, et cetera.
um i'll have george just state his hours of operation he's going to have trash storage
commercial and there's some very minor medical waste that occurs with these parlors that he will
have excuse me let me show you some photos and craft this up this is the petition there's a lot
of signatures within the area these are a typical look of what it will look like on the interior
Mr. Bovey was a manager at another tattoo parlor for many, many years.
He has lots of experience in that industry.
That's typically what it will look like.
Here's the property.
Again, 1529 South Street, very eclectic mix of businesses and restaurants.
So go ahead.
Mr. Bovey, can you raise your hand virtually within the Zoom if you know how?
I did already.
Oh, there you are, George.
Mr. Bovee, state your name and spell for the court reporter.
George Bovee, B -O -B -E.
Right.
Do you swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
George, did you hear my factual statements to the board today?
Are they true and accurate, and can you adopt them as your own testimony in this case?
Yes, I can.
What are your hours of operation?
It'll be from 12 to 8.
and was i correct about you'll have the appropriate commercial uh trash um
uh hauling yes you are okay and and uh is it true that this use will not be any
more uh unusual or impactful than a very similar use of the same pipe
true okay that's all i have mr chairman questions questions from the board
no mr chairman no mr chairman questions from there are comments from the virtual audience
here we have ori feybush mr feybush you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair
hey good afternoon ori feybush with ocf realty we own uh the royal theater mr feybush could you
state your name and spell for the court reporter? I'm so sorry. First name Ori, O -R -I, last name
F as in Frank, E -I -B -U -S -H. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth? I do. Proceed. I just wanted to affirm our support for this project here. We
own the Royal Theater directly across the street and we're excited to see new businesses opening
up on this block here. It's been a long time coming, and we're really excited to see any and
all activity that can really rejuvenate this block, and so we support it as the immediate neighbor.
Thank you for calling in, sir. Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Wade Albert. Mr. Albert, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair, please.
Thank you. Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Sure. My name is Wade, W -A -D -E. Last name is Albert, A -L -B -E -R -T.
Right. Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
Thank you. So my name is Wade Albert. I'm a counsel for the Center City Residents Association, and I'm with the law firm of Stevens and Lee.
I just wanted to add that, and I think that I don't think there was any misrepresentations, but the CCRA voted to not oppose subject to a proviso that all biohazard waste generated at the premises subject to this application will be internally stored in approved biohazard waste storage containers and removed by a reputable trash hauler license to remove biohazard waste materials.
At the presentation, at the RCO meeting, we raised this issue with the applicant, and I understand the applicant would be agreeable to this.
And our concern was that we just wanted to make sure that there would not be any biohazard waste that might be left unattended, for example, in the streets.
And so I would just respectfully request that this proviso be included in the license language.
Thank you very much.
We have that in our paperwork.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you.
i thought i said that but that's fine i i had anyone else
planning committee we have no other hands at this time planning commission good afternoon
chairman david facto f -e -c -t -e -a -u with the city planning commission
E -C -T -E -A -U with the City Planning Commission.
You swear for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Yes, sir, I do.
Proceed.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial
and residential mixed -use zoning at this location.
The applicant has shown that the proposed body art services will have no more of an impact
than personal services would be expected to have here.
So the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant this special exception.
Thank you. MI 2021 -005249 -1529 South Street. I vote yes with the following proviso.
Biohazardous waste to be stored internally in approved containers and removed by a hauler license to handle biohazardous waste.
Carl Tenere, my vote is yes with provisos.
Thomas Holloman my vote is yes with provisos James Snell yes with provisos
Mr. Mayor Shaheed yes with proviso thank you Mr. DeMarco thank you have a good have a good one
number three MI 2021 005320 1643 to 51 North 6th Street South Kensington Community Partners
letter of support. Councilwoman Maria Keona Sanchez, non -opposition. Rachel Pritzker is the
attorney. Chair, we have Brandon Saverin coming back in as a panelist now. Thank you. Good afternoon.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please? Yes, Brandon Saverin of Pritzker
Law Group spelled B -R -A -N -D -O -N, S as in Sam, A, B as in Victor, R -A -N. Right. Do you swear
for him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify
your client and the relationship to the property? Sure. My client is Pearl of Ludlow, LLC.
They are the property owner. Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Saverin. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Madam Vice -Chair.
And it appears that you've sent in all of the required documents timely. Is that correct?
Yes, it is.
Okay, you may proceed and you may begin to share your screen.
Thank you. Allow me one moment as I have a couple presentations today. I want to make sure I pull up the correct packet.
one moment. Okay, and there we go. So the property is 1643 North 6. This is the most recent
street view image available from Google from 2019, I believe. And this is a large lot,
i'll show you the zoning map um that is located on two corners um with sixth cecil b moore and
randolph streets in the kensington neighborhood um as you saw it's a vacant property he's owned rsa5
it is 26 769 .4 square feet according to the office of property assessment so uh talking about a
fairly large property. And what we are proposing here, this is one of two pages of the zoning plan
that I've submitted to the board and to El and I. This is a project that would construct 18 single
family dwellings, which if you can see my cursor are sort of occupying the eastern two -thirds of
the site one row of them which would have nine single family dwellings would have front doors
on cecil b moore avenue the other row of nine single family dwellings would have their front
door on a yard of about 15 feet i'll show you a rendering of what that would look like actually
would be a quite pleasant entrance and you'd have in the rear in the middle of those rows of homes
a 20 -foot wide easement area for a driveway drive aisle. That drive aisle would have curb cuts onto
both Randolph Street and 6th Street to allow access for cars. And there is going to be
two car parking spaces in each single -family home, along with one Class A bicycle parking space.
In addition, we have 18 other units, so this would total 36 swelling units when added to the single family homes that would occupy the western, I'll call it quarter or third of the site.
that would occupy the western i'll call it quarter or third of the site these are going to be arranged
in triplex stacks so there are essentially these six columns one two three four five six
of three dwelling units what we can tell you with a fair degree of certainty is that
my client who will be the developer will likely sell the single family homes and and may retain
the triplex units. So let's see, this is the same image, it's just colored to show the distinction
between the single family homes and the triplex units. There is that entrance yard I spoke about
with regard to the southern oriented single family homes. And I think if I breeze through
this packet for a second we have a couple renderings um so there is that um southern yard
i spoke about now uh to be completely transparent a part of this is actually what is a i think an
adjacent vacant property but some of this is our property and will remain as green space um that
would be the front door of these homes um this i believe is the randolph side exposure this is
the corner of 6th and Cecil B. Moore. So this would be those triplex units I mentioned.
So we have a letter of support from South Kensington Community Partners, who was
the coordinating RCO on this project. We also have a letter of non -opposition from
Councilwoman Quinones Sanchez. To speak about why we're here for a moment, the refusals we
received. And this is, for the record, an amended refusal because we submitted an amended plan.
The refusals are for having multiple structures, for having more than one housing unit on the
property, and because the structures have a height of 42 feet, whereas only 38 are permitted.
Just wanted to walk the board real fast through the hardships we have that led us to draw these
refusals for the proposal. So essentially, as I mentioned, quite a large property. Go back to the
map for a second. Diverse mix of zones surrounding the property, but we are the largest RSA5 property
in about a quarter mile radius. So typically the properties of this size in the area, at least the
immediate area, are zoned something that allows more productive use of the property. Our designation,
as you know, allows only one structure with one dwelling unit. So that would have really pushed
us to subdivide the property, but it's quite deep. And a traditional subdivision pattern would have
resulted in lots that were approximately 130 feet deep. So we wanted to get two rows of homes in
here rather than one. And to go back to the site plan, our original plan actually had only single
family homes, extending the full width of the property. So there were 26 single family homes.
And when we met with the RCO, their zoning committee in particular, they pushed us to
diversify the housing mix that we were going to offer. And in case you're skeptical of that,
I just want to highlight bits of the letter. So it says affordability, neighbors supported the
provision of some smaller units that will be available at a lower price point than the single
family homes. Here on the second page, it highlights that this design was settled on
in consultation with the community and with the planning and zoning committee, taking into account
feedback gathered over previous meetings. So, you know, that's how we landed on this mix of
apartment units in the triplex form in single -family homes. Nonetheless, I think this is a fairly
traditional manner of development that will fit into this neighborhood, and there is a mix in the
surrounding vicinity of both apartment units, some of which are in retrofitted industrial structures
and new homes. I am happy to take any questions. I have the architect who made those plans as well
as a contributing engineer on the call
and can offer them to answer anything I can.
Thank you.
Brandon, we don't need the architect.
I think you explained it.
Is the, you're applying here?
So the two principals are Roy Shemesh and Mayor Badouche.
And I don't know if, which one of them is on,
but at least one of them should be on.
Why don't you have them adopt your testimony?
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Badouche, you can unmute yourself or wait for the chair, please.
Mr. Badouche, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair, please.
Sir, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Meir Badouche, M -E -I -R -B -A -D -U -S -H.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I affirm.
Precise.
Mayor, were you able to listen to my testimony today?
I did.
and was it true and accurate yes it is and would you adopt my testimony as your own
yes absolutely okay thank you very much questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman
no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
there we have someone with the initials sj whoever has the initials sj can you please
unmute yourself or wait for the chair. Could you state your name and spell it for the court
reporter, please? Chandra, S -H -O -N -D -R -A, Jackson, J -A -C -K -S -O -N. Do you swear or affirm that tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Proceed. I'm on here because my
brother is at work. They reside at 1613 North 6th Street. My parents have been there over 50 years.
It's very disturbing.
My mother has gotten hit crossing the street and she just had spinal surgery, so she can't be on here.
But I'm concerned because 6th Street, some years ago when I was a child, we fought the 95 and the Vine Street Expressway didn't run through there.
How can that design that the architect put up have more traffic coming through there?
when it's a septibus that turns at that corner already have a problem you have a lot of home
owners on this block that's having a situation already he's not saying it's a church right next
door to there so it's already a parking issue it's all my parents own two properties on that block
so it's very disturbing when you're talking about this would be a good place right now they already
have structures going up so fast that it's upsetting to the senior citizens that feel
like they're being put in jail. As of right now, my parents can't park in front of their door
because one of the new structures that was done over messed up the pipelines. So my mother who
just had surgery, who can't even park in front of her door because they having to dig up in front
of their house due to the half going on with the zoning and them telling y 'all one thing when it's
a whole nother thing for this to go through it'll be a terrible situation for the homeowners on that
block that's really sick right now we have several people on that block with cancer several people on
that block that don't because that land has toxic waste on it i know a three -year -old that died
from playing in that same part
where they're talking about buildings.
So what are you going to put in the air?
Asbestos?
So, Ms. Jackson, we appreciate your call
and thank you.
Any other comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Michael Jacoby.
Mr. Jacoby, you can unmute yourself
and wait for the chair.
Hello?
Mr. Jacoby, could you state your name
and spell for the court reporter?
Michael Jacoby, M -I -C -H -A -E -L -J -A -C -O -B -Y.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, for sure.
Proceed.
I just wanted to say I live a block away.
I drive down this block every day.
In the past couple of years, I mean, I've lived in the neighborhood for quite a while.
And the last couple of years, I've seen a lot of plans come through for this lot.
And I think that this one is the best one.
So I definitely support it.
Um, and the, the fact that they have a lot of single families, I think is going to be great
for the community. And the fact that there are also some triplexes there that add some diversity
would be fantastic. Um, it's a large lot that's been empty for quite a long time. It leaves much
to be desired to say the least. And I think that it will certainly be a great addition
to this part of the neighborhood. So thank you for calling Mr. Jacoby. Thanks for calling in.
is there anyone else in the virtual audience we have someone with their hand up by the last name
stewart mr stewart can you unmute yourself and wait i'll get to you in a minute brandon
okay thank you mr stewart could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
Hey, how are you guys? My name is Brayne Stewart, B -R -Y -H -E as in elephant, M as in mother, Stewart, S -T -E -W -A -R -T.
hey how are you guys my name is brain stewart b -r -y -h -e as an elephant m as a
I've been a neighbor in the...
Wait a minute. Wait one minute. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I affirm to tell the truth.
Thank you, sir. Proceed.
Okay, like I was saying, I've been a neighbor for almost 30 years in that area.
I've seen that area transition a lot. I support this project 100%.
I've been around when crime was heavily populated in that area.
This is something that's great, you know, for the community.
I like the single families.
I support it 100%.
All right.
Thank you for calling in.
Anyone else?
Here, we have no other hands at this time.
Thank you very much.
Planning Commission.
Mr. Chair, if I could just add a couple words there.
Sorry.
I just want to make it clear for the record that my client will comply with all state and federal law regarding environmental contamination, if this is ever found.
Further, in terms of the parking, as I showed you in that RCO letter, the original plan was all single family homes, all of which would have had parking.
And on a 15 -0 unanimous vote, I have the meeting summary on my screen here.
The community supported this proposal, which, you know, had some units which do not have parking.
But nonetheless, all of those single -family homes have two parking spaces.
So I do not think we are substantially reducing parking.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Planning Commission?
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman.
members of the board, David Fecto, City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends this
property for residential multifamily zoning. During the public process to change the zoning
maps in South Kensington, the commission was asked to decrease the allowable density in the
neighborhood as we were heading west from the newly established medium density mixed use corridor
along North 5th Street. So that's why this ended up as single family zoning. So we settled on
single family zoning. The applicant is proposing 36 units. 27 units would be allowed by right in
the seventh district if these were fee simple lots based solely on lot area. While we believe
that the two parking spaces for each of the single family units is excessive, the proposed
density of the single family homes is in keeping with what would be allowed in the code. However,
the triplexes would push the allowable units over what would be allowed. So the city planning
Planning Commission is going to recommend that the board grant the use and dimensional variances,
but limit the proposal to 27 units that would be allowed if the property were subdivided.
So, Mr. Chair, I mean, we just don't have a plan that supports a different number of units. This
was sort of put together in a delicate way with an easement down the middle. So that, I would urge
the board to sort of, you know, allow the plan we have developed. And if there's an urge to reduce
the unit count, I really would like to bring on the architect to speak about how that would or
wouldn't be possible. Thank you. And thank you, David, too. MI 2021 -005320, 1643 -51 North 6th
I vote yes with proviso as per amended refusal dated 3 -9 -22.
Carol Tenere, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thomas Hallowin, my vote is no.
James Snell, my vote is yes with proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes with proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you everyone.
MI 2021 -003 -754 -1622 -40 Point Breeze Avenue.
Sean Weil is the attorney.
RCO letter in opposition from concerned citizens of Point Breeze.
RCO letter in support from coordinating RCO.
applicant is expecting a letter of support. We don't see the letters of yet. Mr. Whalen?
Good afternoon, Chairman. Hi, Mr. Whalen, could you identify your client and the relationship
to the property? Certainly. 1620 Point Breeze Avenue, LLC, is the owner of the property.
thank you do you swear for him to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes i do the vice chair has several questions hi mr will and do you agree to waive the reading
Hi, Mr. Whalen. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
Yes, I do.
I assume that you have submitted the required documents five days in advance,
and you've met with the RCO and have a letter?
Yes, and yes.
I think there were two yeses needed in there.
Yes and yes, and you may also share your screen.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I neglected to do so, so my name is Sean, S -E -A -N, last name Whalen, W -H -A -L -E -N.
I did swear you in, right?
Yes, you did swear me in.
Thank you. I'm sorry.
Nope, that's fine.
So I am sharing my screen right now, and hopefully everyone can see a proposed rendering of the site in question today.
um so i i will state first that we we did receive a letter of support from the coordinating rco
point breeze cdc um i hope that you had that i actually received it i believe from
uh board council sharon saletta um so you can see
uh two the neighbors within two block radius are in support of this project
And we did, as I believe Chairman stated, the letter states that it's for 2027 Ellsworth Street.
We understand this to be a letter from concerned citizens of Point Breeze for 1622 to 40 Point Breeze in opposition to the project.
So, again, the coordinating RCO supported the project and another RCO in the area opposed the project.
um there was a lot of confusion with regard to this uh proposal in front of you today uh talking
about a lot of different developments and types and i just to be clear the only thing we're talking
about today is a subdivision of the land we are not talking about any actual construction going
forward uh but i'll i'll build out the story for you as as easy as possible so we have uh a single
refusal. The refusal, I think, is technically correct, and that's how I answered it to Ms.
Tenere, vice chair. However, it's stating that 57 units would be too many for the land.
Again, I think this is a bit confusing, so I'll get into that in just a second.
This is the subject property we're talking about.
Here's where a block south of Tasker, a block north of Morris. It's a very large
oddly shaped parcel right at Fernon and Point Breeze Avenue.
And here, I think, is the simplest way I can describe what's going on today.
What you're looking at today is the subdivision of the land as it sits today and previously
approved.
There is an approved apartment building under construction right now, basically on this
portion of the property, this lower portion of the property, that is a 57 unit apartment building
that was proposed, I believe, almost exactly three years ago, went through, it was a buy -write
project, went through CDR, and actually, and notably, in working with the community,
there have been numerous, numerous RCO meetings and community meetings here, and I'll allow my
client to to testify as to all of them because I know I've only been to the formal ones
in coordination with the RCO that approved apartment building was reduced by 10 units
so there was an approval a prior approval for a 67 unit building that was reduced voluntarily
down to 57 units in coordination with the community at the CDR process so this is what we have this
is technically parcel a and this is parcel c which is a vacant lot currently at the corner
of fernon and point breeze the x right here is one kind of standard townhome lot that is privately
owned and then right next door where i have city lots there are two very small one is about 12 and
a half feet wide one's just shy of 14 feet wide or 13 and a half feet wide city owned lots those
are controlled by phdc the proposal before you today is to switch to what i'm showing right now
on the screen you would still have the approved apartment building uh 57 units as i said that's
under construction that's not in consideration for today the city lots would remain the private
uh parcel would remain parcel c would actually get a little bit larger and then there would be
And then there would be a new parcel B here.
a new parcel b here and
And in short, what the attempt is to do is to build what's on the screen right now.
This is, I said, the culmination of about three years of this project.
The vote in favor that I showed you from the coordinating RCO, some of the members of the
ZBA chairman may well remember the vitriol and fighting over this project numerous times. So
this apartment building will be built no matter what. There was an original plan to build a second
apartment building fronting on Fernon. That plan has been scrapped. And now in coordination
with the community, the community asked for townhomes. And in conjunction with the Point
Breeze CDC, we've agreed to keep the corner property open and allow some open space for the
community. There will be street trees planted, and these would be completely conforming townhomes,
actually approximately 4 or 35 feet, so even less than the 38 -foot homes. This is what the
neighborhood wanted and this is what they requested for us to forego an apartment building
again just quickly to build an apartment building on the existing lot at the corner to forgo
building that and instead building single family homes townhomes across from the single family
townhomes on the other side of Fernon. We remain in discussions with the City of Philadelphia,
the Councilman's Office, and the community to purchase. Again, what I show here are those two
city lots that I described. Those will be vacant as of now. We do not own them, we do not control
them, and we do not have an agreement for them. However, with support of the community and the
councilman's office and continued negotiations with the city. We hope to acquire those two lots
and therefore have a completed string of townhomes. There would be nine townhomes in this situation
with eight townhomes being built here. What you can see is the obvious benefit of this subdivision
and, you know, the greatly increased corner area, which would be open and allowed for use by the
community. And as we've set forth with Point Breeze CDC, the community would have control of
that corner and determine for their own purposes with the councilman's office, what the best
possible use of that corner would be. So in essence, you know, we do believe there's a distinct
hardship to be described here. However, that is part of the kind of convoluted background.
Much of the anger in the neighborhood has been over the existing and previously approved and
now under construction apartment building. That's not in front of us today. And we actually, I know,
and you may hear that this subdivision is an attempt to increase allowable density.
This is actually a second step of decreasing density at this parcel. So again, this property right here, or sorry, this structure right here was approved, fully approved with permits in hand for 67 units.
The developer reduced that in coordination with the community and the CDR process down to 57 units.
We can currently build a second apartment building, even scrapping the much larger apartment building that cannot be built with those city lots in the middle.
We could build another apartment building at the corner.
the community has said and we are in agreement that they do not want another apartment building
and they asked for this nice larger open space so that's what we are working towards with the
community and again these would be 34 to 35 foot townhomes single family for sale townhomes
to you can see the whole string of single family townhomes going up and down
in this neighborhood. So that's what we're working for. And with that, I would conclude.
I'm happy to answer any questions. Like I said, it's a convoluted scenario.
So Sean, explain, go back one more time. So all you're really asking is the parcels today.
Correct. So today, the apartments are already approved. You're not asking the bill today,
You're not asking the bill today, anything in the front, you're just asking for the parcels.
anything in the front. You're just asking for the parcels.
Correct.
Correct.
Am I right?
Correct.
And some may ask why, you know, is there some purpose as to why we're not including them all together?
Because of those city lots and because of our continued hope and desire to work with the community to acquire those and give a much larger portion of the corner, we could not bring everything together as one application.
That's the only reason why you're not seeing one application.
So all that's before you today.
Why don't you bring your owner on and adopt the testimony?
Certainly. Thank you, Chairman.
I believe Ori Feibusch is on, if he could be raised as a panelist.
He's available. He can unmute himself.
I believe I'm unmuted.
Mr. Feibusch, you've already been sworn.
would you just state your name for the court reporter? Sure. Ori Fybush, F as in Frank,
E -I -B -U -S -H. Proceed, Mr. Whelan. Yes, thank you. Mr. Fybush, you are here on behalf of the owner
of this property, correct? That is correct. And did you hear the testimony already presented?
Yes, sir. And do you believe it to be true and correct to the best of your knowledge,
information, and belief? I do. And would you adopt it as your own? I would.
and please be cognizant of the board's time and don't be duplicative, but is there anything else
that you believe would be pertinent or relevant that I did not touch on for the board's consideration?
Sure, absolutely. Mr. Chairman, I will remain brief here. If I could go back in time, I would
have never purchased any part of this property here. I wasn't aware at some of the sensitivities
of what was historically an entire city parcel that transferred to previous private developers
that were unrelated to me before I ultimately purchased it.
So if we were to poll the community three years ago, I think the consensus would be
that nothing would ultimately get built on any part of this site.
But I do want to reaffirm and really share that this has been designed by consensus here.
We unilaterally reduced scale.
we unilaterally participated in philadelphia's affordable housing trust without any obligation
or benefit even on our end here there's no written commitment even that the city will ultimately
support or the community will support this we had the two city lots under contract at all times we
have acted in good faith here while balancing the interests of the development but also balancing
the benefit of the community and so what you see before you today is really a byproduct of
of exhausted meetings and collaboration.
I won't suggest that everyone is supportive,
but on the whole, we have an opportunity here
to build much lower scale on what is a single family block,
while also preserving an opportunity for the city
to ultimately hopefully swap two unbuildable lots
on their own with the corner that's much more desirable
for whatever the community ultimately decides
for that space to be,
whether it be a community space or a garden,
that's not our determination.
But so on our end here, I just want to share that admittedly, we regret that we bought this many, many years ago.
We wish we hadn't, although it would be another developer before you today.
But the end result here is something that we're both proud of and something that is consistent with true design by consensus and compromise on both sides, both with the community and with us here.
And so the goal here, again, is simply subdivide this so that we can be afforded the opportunity to complete this project and build a small row of townhomes on a block that is exclusively townhomes at this time.
And so I appreciate your time and consideration.
Thank you. Questions from the board?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Counselor, what is the hardship for granting the variance?
I'm sorry, you cut out for just a second.
What about granting the variance? What is the hardship?
So I can get into the hardship, which, you know, the fundamental basis of the application is to do what the neighborhood wants.
The issue with the hardship is you obviously have a large previously existing property with a unique and strange shape.
Obviously, almost a U with a U shape in here.
We are trying to correct that to create more fundamentally normalized lots.
The issue as to the existing apartment building, we've reduced and continued to reduce the number of units allowed,
which would have been permitted by Wright under the code as it was three years ago and even two years ago.
under the code as it was three years ago and even two years ago. Since that time, the code has
Since then,
changed. And that is the only thing that leads to the refusal that you see today. In addition,
and the primary change has been, we voluntarily provided a payment in lieu for the affordable
mixed income bonus the affordable housing bonus as people describe it at the time my client
offered to the community because the site the apartment building was approved offered to the
community to either provide actual units or to provide a payment in lieu as the board understands
it at that time nobody had any care one way or the other as to what was done so my client proceeded
with a payment in lieu of that structure. If we could go back and actually switch from a payment
in lieu to providing actual units, affordable units in this property, we would, and we wouldn't
have the refusal that we need. However, it is the position of the city, and this is a more recent
determination within the last year or so, so much predating this entire development,
that it's basically a use it or lose it determination by the city. And we raise this
all the way up to the highest echelons of the mayor's office. So once you choose at your zoning
permit stage to include actual affordable units or to opt for the payment in lieu,
you are required to stay with that choice no matter what. You are not allowed to switch from
one to the other. So if we could switch, and this is the city's determination, if we could switch to
the provision of units in the apartment building, much of this would be cleared up. Again, this was
not the determination of the city, or I should say, sorry, the interpretation of the city under
the code at the time that we proceeded with this agreement. So all of these things have changed
and despite a $360 ,000 payment in lieu, that would have to get thrown away and we would have to
restart the entire application in order to offer actual affordable units under the code as it is
now. And as I described, that code has changed. And so I think my client can give a little bit
more description as to that, but I want to make sure we're fully answering your questions. So
Mr. Fibush, is there anything not duplicative, but anything I didn't touch on with regard to
that explanation? Mr. Fibush? Forgive me, Mr. Whalen, I was muted. Only just
also touch on that we weren't relying on hope here but in fact had the city lots under contract
and so everything we're both proposing today and we had historically proposed would have been
permitted as a matter of rights inclusive of what you just shared here and so the combination of the
city reneging on the sale of those two lots in combination with the changes to the interpretation
of the affordable housing code has prohibited us from completing what is ultimately now something
that has been negotiated and ultimately agreed to by or supported by all parties here. So you're
much more articulate than me, but there are a lot of city interpretations that have driven us to
where we are today. Counselor, it's my understanding that you're saying you did not know that you can
switch when you did partial a uh i'm sorry for any confusion my testimony was that uh the city
does not allow for a switch between payment in lieu and affordable housing units actually being
provided um and i actually went up to uh john monlock on that in the mayor's office
um it is it is actually just absolutely not allowed uh no if ands or buts uh and so i
apologize if i didn't make that clear the first time but okay okay but you did know it before you
did parcel a so uh when we did parcel a that was not the interpretation of the city the city
previously allowed for a swap of units for provision of actual units or for the payment
payment in lieu. And that has been a change of the city's position over, I want to say,
in lieu. And that has been a change of the city's position.
maybe the last year, maybe a little bit longer. My timeline's a little fuzzy once COVID hit.
Thank you. Other questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Ella Bruce with her hand up.
Ms. Bruce, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
I'm sorry, my mouth had frozen.
Can you hear me?
Yeah, we can.
Just state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Ella Bruce, last name Bruce, B -R -U -C -E.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed.
I would like to say I've attended every meeting concerning this project, and I'm actually a little surprised that the RCO agreed, gave a letter of support.
I do live on Tasker Street, and I'm probably 400 feet away from this proposed project.
There's so many people that have opposed this, the people that live on Fernand.
But what I want to say is, to get to this point where the developer decided he was going to do the single -family homes, that's what the community wanted from the beginning, on the entire lot to be single -family homes.
So here we are three years later, and because it was such a fight for him with us, because we did not want what he was proposing, and for him to say that we are in full support, that is not true.
things are being twisted here at this point to subdivide this property I am in fear that he's
going to still come back and try to do an apartment complex in the existing lot he already has
a multi -family two blocks up 1400 is it 1400 point breeze and then he wants to put these
additional 57, there's no reason why he couldn't still put affordable units in this unit that he's
building now. So none of this is to the benefit of the community. It's, you know, everything is
spun to make it look like he's doing something that's to our benefit and out of, you know,
the goodness of his heart, but it's not a benefit to the community. And I don't see the hardship.
I just am in fear that we will still get increased density here where there's already so many multifamily units being purchased.
And I really would respectfully hope that you would not subdivide this because we don't know what he really does plan on doing in the end.
Because, like, there is no proposal in writing or permits requested for these other pieces of property.
thank you so much thank you for calling in man thank you any other comments from the virtual
audience here we have a tanya dixon with her hand up miss dixon please unmute yourself and wait for
the chair i could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter yes my name is tanja
t -a -n -j -a dixon d -i -x -o -n you swear or firm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth? Yes, I do. Proceed, please. Thank you so much, Mr. Counsel and the board.
Like the previous speaker, Ms. Ella, I am also concerned. I am really like set back today of
what I'm hearing because it has been twisted. I am a co -captain on the 2200 block of Fernon Street.
My mother is the block captain. Also, we've been there for over 52 years. So I've seen a lot go
through this development, this piece of property, what the hands have done with it. And Mr. Ori has
not complied with anything that we have previously asked them for. I understand that we're not
speaking on the 57 units, but the 57 units have been a problem because from day one, we asked him
at least to place parking. So now he's talking about this partial that he would like to also
partial that he would like to also build upon. And we see the layout for it. It is going to
build upon.
And we see.
take away, which we don't have already, parking from this smaller street of Fernand Street.
On the design, it looks like the street is wide enough that maybe the cars can park on the other
side of the street, which is not so. This block has gone through a lot and the neighbors around it.
We have already have to sit in the understanding that there won't be any more parking.
But now he wants to, we don't know what he wants to build on here.
He has not been honest with us with the 57 units.
We still don't know how it's going to be maintained.
We still don't know how people are moving in and out.
This is a lot for this small section of Point Breeze.
We already have four other apartment buildings that have been constructed 10 feet away from this one that's being constructed already.
My parents are handicapped. My father is suffering from cancer.
My neighbor also has cancer also.
And there's another handicapped space that will be taken away.
We see that they want to plant trees.
The reason why we never planted trees on this block is because of the fact that it hurts the concrete.
The building that's going up now has brought a lot of concern to everyone because it's going to also take away the sunlight from many homes.
which with this small street during the winter time when it snows the only benefit that we had
was the sun to remove the snow because a lot of times the snow plows could not get down the street
because it's a small street so today I am just begging I am really begging that you really could
reconsider having him do anything with these partials at this present moment because we don't
know what Ori is going to do. Ori has promised many a things and have really did the total
opposite. And I am really upset at this moment. I'm just trying to keep it all together and be as
professional as I possibly can. But this is not going to help our community. This is tearing us
apart the amount of trash that we have from a lot of these apartment buildings are causing so many
problems with the squirrels my father just had to have his roof repaired because we're infested with
squirrels right now because of the amount of trash we don't know how the trash is going to be picked
up so to just keep adding more and more um townhouses apartment buildings this is just this
is just not feasible for us at all it's not that we don't want beautiful things we do but we as a
community would like for the developers to really work along with us and not against us and this is
what he has done from day one i really thank you very much thank you for calling in anyone else
from the virtual audience chair we have ray lambright mr or miss lambright you can unmute
yourself and wait for the chair could you could you state your name and spell for the court reporter
there i could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please you have to unmute
oh i thought i did i'm sorry that's fine just state your name and spell for the court reporter
ray r -a -e last name is lambright that's l as in lemon a m as in mary b as in boy r -i -g -h -t
right do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
yes proceed okay i actually live on marsh street which is right across the street of point breeze
and i've lived in here my whole entire life which is 54 years my parents 10 years prior to
so i fairly well i do know the area and this lot
like ella and tangy um a lot of what i heard today is not as true my first um question would be
is that we're voting on a lot that is um the address is 1622 to 40 but from my understanding
is actually 1630 um is because the this parcel was split in two for some reason so now there's
two different properties so the property on the side of fernard street has a completely different
an address. So that's a little sketchy to me, how we're having a meeting. And that has also
not been addressed. The other issue is just like Ellis.
not been addressed. The other issue is just like Ella said, she's been at all the
community meetings. I unfortunately have missed a few due to the pandemic because I was not aware.
But for the most part, when it came to this lot, I tried to stay on top of what was going on.
And the last meeting that we as the RCOs had, the majority of people on there that's within a two
block radius said no so now that I'm seeing this letter saying that it was approved by 10 people
and opposed by nine I question that because one the RCO that I know I've never even received a
copy of it until this morning at 9 a .m because if that was the case five days prior to I would
actually wrote a handwritten letter and made sure it was to the board as well as the rest of my
neighbors who also oppose this change. I understand that we're here voting on
the side of Furnard Street to allow this parcel to be split. I am completely against it
because Mr. Fybush knows that we did want townhomes, but for the whole entire lot,
not just for a section of the lot that was um one of our biggest concerns is the parking yes
parking is bad all over the city for the most part south philadelphia is the worst um fernard
street is a very small street it's not a larger um little block so parking is not great there
there's no parking on the on either side of these streets of where this apartment complex or eight
townhomes will go. It is not something that the community really wanted. Point Breeze Avenue,
as Mr. Fiber said, he didn't realize when he purchased this property, it has such a historical
value with this lot. The whole Point Breeze section is historical because it was a business
section businesses were along this whole strip along with apartment units above businesses
so we asked about businesses i personally asked mr fye bush about instead of apartments you know
complete apartments how about a few businesses he did state that um we don't have the density for it
but now i hear he wants to decrease the density and build townhomes in the area so
So the whole thing does not sound great to me.
He supports a business on South Street for businesses promoting there, but not in a historical
Point Breeze section of Philadelphia, especially Point Breeze Avenue, where businesses were.
This lot has an odd shape because it used to be a movie theater also on that lot.
So that automatically gives it an odd shape for the other businesses and homes that were
around it.
If you approve this for him today, like my neighbors are saying, we have no idea what
he's actually going to do because he'll have approval and he'll go ahead and just do what
he wants to do because apparently this is what he's allowed, has been allowed to do,
it seems as in the past.
So right now, I am against him having separate lots.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And thank you for calling in.
Anyone else have something else to offer relative to this in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Matthew Noggle.
Mr. Noggle, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Can you hear me?
Mr. Noggle, can you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
My name is Matthew Noggle, N -O -G -G -L -E.
I live at 1635 South 23rd Street, which is directly against this entire larger project.
Wait a minute. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
I urge you to vote against this variance for a multitude of reasons, in addition to what Tangy and some of my other neighbors have said.
there has been a consistent refusal of transparency and requests for additional information from
a variety of people within the system. Two of the RCOs have refused my requests for copies
of Zoom meetings related to this lot. Pietra Gamble, Albert Littlepage, likewise Councilman
Johnson's office has refused copies of Zoom meetings where much of the information that
Mr. Whalen has shared here can be refuted, but unfortunately they refuse to give those.
uh councilman johnson's office has also refused other information we've been refused copies of
Councilman Johnson's office has also refused other information.
We've been refused copies.
shade studies related to other projects on the same lot um the concessions that mr whalen spoke
about were not the concessions that the people in the community asked for those were the concessions
that he and his client wanted to give we asked for concessions on reduced density reduced height
as well as on -site parking and uh they were all refused um citing that every aspect that they want
they can have because of the city's by right and so i urge you to reject this city has been removed
i'm almost done please city was um has at all levels has refused providing an avenue for us
to have input and have meaningful say and this will be one way the city can help us at least
reduced density for the time being. Thank you. Thank you for calling in.
Anyone else have something different or relative to this project?
Chair, we have someone with the phone number ending in
3055. Sir or madam with the phone number
ending in 3055. Can you please unmute yourself and wait for the chair?
State your name, please, and spell it for the court reporter. Hi.
Good afternoon, boy. Tiffany Green, concerned citizens of Point 3.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed, please.
I'm representing concerns to the point of view of RCO as an effective RCO.
And today I'm going, I want to just piggyback on the neighbors that spoke.
But however, it's a more important issue that we need to protect the right to the neighbors under the zoning code.
This refusal is inaccurate and not correct.
We asked the board to either vote deny or dismiss this particular refusal for their variants.
The incorrect address is 1622 -40 Point Breeze Avenue.
OPA number is 881 -450 -744.
The ZP number for that, okay, is 20 -21 -001 -129.
Now, and this particular D address does not exist, okay?
The correct address or DTA address as recorded on 79 -2021 is 1630 Point Breeze Avenue, OPA number 881 -000066.
and 1622 Point Breeze Avenue OPA number 3640022. Okay. Okay. We would want that this
applicant have a new application under a new review. Okay. We are here based on a refusal
being correct. And this refusal is not only incorrect, it's inaccurate. And it was also
1622 Point Breeze Avenue was legally sent out to the neighbors for a public meeting and this
public hearing. Okay, under the zoning code, okay, we have the right to have to address a correct
refusal okay at the public meeting and at the public hearing okay and we have no way of verifying
uh if getting this information in the refusal is correct but we know that these that the
property has already been subdivided into 1630 .3 avenue and 1622 .3 avenue okay all right uh i just
want to say that during the public meeting i did pose the question to the developer mr feinbush
was 16 22 40 point b's avenue correct and he stated that it was okay and at that point
subsequently the neighbors have voted on a particular property that is not no longer in
existence okay we would like to have the entire uh permit done over and um under review um hopefully
leaders may also need to open more open communications and as uh the developer stated
he will be willing to make some type of concessions i just want to finish up my uh my uh my testimony
as you can uh right and that uh we also have submitted this to ms baldwin uh the chief code
enforcer uh we have been in communication with her office since march 3rd and uh and like i said
we have requested that this out this refusal i mean that the permit application and the
refusal be canceled and be done over again under um the refusal so um and also i just want one
more thing uh commissioner i just want to make the statement that um the vote was with us for 15 days
i just received a summary this morning and so i cast my vote directly with the zba so therefore
summary this morning and so i cast my vote directly with the zba so therefore it was
not 10 -9 it would be 10 -10 tied so i hope that you would keep that in consideration why the vote was
withheld we have no idea why okay thank you thank you all right thank you is there anyone else has
a comment that's different there are no other hands at this time chair excuse me commission
excuse me mr chairman mr chairman go ahead thomas oh counselor
thomas what is the future what is the future plan for partial billion c
uh i i am happy to walk that through so i i think still showing on your screen
is uh the future plan what we want the apartment building is not before you today we're talking
about the subdivision we would like to build uh nine townhomes these will be uh actually
reduced in height they will be lower than the corresponding townhomes across the street
and doing so requires us to acquire the two city lots i do not want to represent to this board
that we have already done so or have agreement to do so we are in continuous conversations with
the city to try to get those two lots that would allow a much larger portion here if we do not get
the city lots we will build eight townhomes across here so these four townhomes that you see right
here will be on the new parcel b this is parcel b or would be parcel b and sorry these uh four
townhomes would be on parcel c so again right now what we could do is build uh eight or nine
apartments on parcel c um we've been trying to and i will just use this opportunity because uh
miss bruce miss dixon miss lambright and mr nogal all raised very important um points and i think
that they go to answer your question as well mr holliman um i i don't know if i misspoke but i
want to make clear this project was brought forward originally as the 67 unit apartment building
money was you know the property was just for sale at an arm's length transaction it was purchased by
my client money was raised with plans to build an apartment building those plans were brought
forward it was approved by right and then we proceeded through the cdr process during the cdr
process you know the plans are already approved and ready to go but for finalizing the cdr process
That was the first time that we learned, because this was a by -right project, of the extreme sensitivity in this neighborhood to an apartment building at this site.
So what you heard today, which is absolutely correct and we do not refute, was that there was adamant opposition early on to this apartment building.
The near neighbors did ask us to scrap entirely the apartment building and to build townhomes across the entire property.
For multiple business reasons, that could not be done.
Money was already invested and the project was already designed.
So in coordination with that, we did reduce the overall density of that apartment building from 67 to 57.
Mr. Whelan, we've covered this. I mean, you've said that several times.
Right. So let me just finish up then. This final subdivision that we're talking about today has nothing to do with the apartment building that's at issue and was just raised by all of the neighbors in opposition.
What we're talking about is just what will happen along Fernon, and we will stipulate and agree. We would agree to a proviso not to build an apartment building. We have no intentions to build an apartment building.
We are in agreement with the RCO in conversations with the councilman's office to build low -density, low -height townhomes along Fernon Street to mirror what is along the neighborhood.
And with that, I apologize if I went to you.
No, no, no. Thank you, Mr. Whalen. Any other questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
Planning Commission.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, David Fechtow, City Planning Commission.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board, the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential
the comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential multifamily zoning at this location.
multifamily zoning at this location.
This proposal finished civic design review in November 2020 and we want to note the design
review is a process which advises applicants on the design of their proposal but has no role in
reviewing zoning variances, special exceptions, or other discretionary approvals. So the applicant
received a permit on the large lot for 57 units using bonuses for a green roof and mixed income
units in August of 2021. However, the applicant is now asking to divide a 2 ,098 square foot parcel
off from the original proposal. This would allow the applicant the privilege of earning free
dwelling units on the new lot over and above what they received with their bonuses on their
original proposal. So the city planning commission recommends that the board deny the requested use
variance. Thank you. If I may just very quickly, Chairman Bergman, with all of this being townhomes
and with us agreeing that no apartment building will be built on the as existing lot, so this
lot C already exists and allows eight or nine apartments, with us agreeing not to build that,
which we would agree to here on the hearing, we are actually not increasing the density request
in any way, shape, or form. We're asking for no more units than we could build already in an
apartment building. Mr. Whalen, thank you very much. We've had a great deal of testimony today.
I want to hold the vote so I can talk to my other board members in an executive session next
Wednesday, and we will announce where we stand next Wednesday morning. Thank you, Mr. Whalen,
for all your time. Thank you very much, Chairman. Could I just ask for, you broke up for a second,
will you be voting at the morning session or the afternoon session? Morning session.
Okay, thank you very much, Chairman. Thank you, sure.
MI 2021 -005248 -5003 Pine Street, Vern Anastasio. RCO Garden Court Apartment Community Association
letter of support. Mr. Anastasio is coming back in as a panelist now, Chair. Okay.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I state your name is spelled for the court reporter, please.
Yes, of course. First off, my apologies. I'm having some technical difficulties with my camera,
so my apologies that you can only hear me and not see me, but it's Vern Anastasio V, like Victor,
E -R -N -A -N -A -S -T -A -S -I -O, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 317, Philadelphia, 19107.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do, sir.
Could you identify who your client is and the relationship to the property?
Yes, I'm actually representing Ms. Crystal Bell, who is the executrix of the estate that is owning the property.
Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Mr. Amistadio, do you agree to the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, Vice Chair Tenere.
Okay. It appears that you have sent in all the required documents timely, and you've met with the RCO and have a lotter as well?
You may proceed, and please share with the screen.
Thank you. I believe my screen is shared.
It is up. That's right. I'm looking right at it.
Awesome. Thank you. 50 -03 Pine Street. This is the legalization of an existing three -family dwelling in an existing structure. No additions are proposed, and this is why we received a refusal as the RSA -3 zoning classification.
I'll go through quickly the plans where there's a front door foyer, living, dining, kitchen on the first floor with a powder room, a full restroom, and a mudroom.
We have our second floor with the front door on the side, hallway.
We have a kitchen and a one -bedroom apartment.
And then we have our third floor with a two -bedroom apartment, full -size living room,
kitchen, and bath. The property has, I'll zoom out a little bit, property has two entrances.
My client inherited this property. Her father owned it for many years. And as it turns out,
Her father owned it for many years, and as it turns out, although it was a legal three -family dwelling, at some point a lapse in rental licenses caused the underlying zoning district to take hold.
As a result, it is no longer compliant, although pre -existing, non -existing use.
It's no longer a compliant three family dwelling. We have four electric meters, one for each of the three units, plus a house unit for exterior lighting. We have gas meters that show the same thing here.
and I am going to go down to, if you give me a moment, I think what's most important
is the history of the property, whereas if you can see quite clearly there were in fact
zoning permits via variance for a three -family dwelling, and that has been consistent throughout
the history of the property. Well, if in fact there's a three -family dwelling again from the
60s, if in fact this property was ever less than a three -family dwelling, there is no evidence
to suggest that it was at any time, at least over the last 75 years. We did have an RCO meeting,
87 individuals were mailed. This is pursuant to VISTA's mailing. We have a tax certification.
And if I can scroll up a little, I will show you that, in fact, after meeting with the RCO,
They, in fact, sent a letter dated 15th of March in support of granting of this variance.
They list a number of reasons why the variance should be granted, given the pre -existing
non -conforming conditions, given the RCO support, given the articulated reasons for support,
which is A, housing affordability, and B, diversity in housing price points.
And given the long history of the proposed use that was once all legalized,
I respectfully request that the appeal for the three -family dwelling, again, conditions already in existence, be used.
I think, just to take particular note, is that the RCO agreed that compliance would require a considerable investment and then making the home only, and this is a quote, only attainable to a family affluent enough to afford it.
small -scale units like this contribute to our neighborhood's vitality and diversity.
And as such, I am going to rest, move my 59, I believe, pieces of exhibits into the record
as evidence. And I'd like to call my client, Ms. Crystal Bell, to raise her hand for her testimony.
Ms. Bell, please unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Hi, Ms. Bell, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Yes, my name is Crystal Bell, spelled C -R -Y -S -T -A -L, last name Bell, B -E -L -L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. May I proceed?
please. Ms. Bell, did you hear my presentation to the board this afternoon? Yes, I did. And is it
true and accurate to the best of your knowledge? That is correct. Yes. Okay. And do you adopt it
as your own testimony? Yes. Thank you. And were you present for the RCO meeting where the community
organization proffered full support? Yes, I was. Thank you very much. I have nothing else, Mr.
chairman other than to move that testimony into the record and open for questions thank you
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual
audience i see no hands at this time chair planning commission
I see no hands at this time chair. Planning Commission. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good
afternoon. Mr. Chairman, members of the board, David Fecto, City Planning Commission. The
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
The majority of homes on this block are duplexes or triplexes. The proposal for a triplex matches
the character of the block and considering that this is a pre -existing use, the City Planning
commission recommends that the board grant the use variance thank you mi 2021 -005248 -5003 pine
street i vote yes carol tenere my vote is yes thomas holloman my vote is yes james snell my vote
is yes ishmael shaheed my vote is yes thank you thank you all have a good evening thank you
Court reporter, we're going to hear one more and then take a quick break, okay?
Thank you very much.
Are we still on the record?
Yes, we are. I think we lost the chair. Can we pause off for a minute?
Number seven, MI 2021 -005238 -7111 Germantown Avenue.
state representative chris rab sent a letter of support councilwoman vast letter of support
and refers to rco support in the letter mr masters here mr masters is coming back in as a
panelist now thank you good afternoon mr masters could you state your name and spell for the court
reporter? Steve Masters, S -T -E -V -E, M -A -S -T -E -R -S. Right. Do you swear for him to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Could you identify your client and the
relationship to the property in question? I have two clients here, members of the board. I
represent the owner, Philly Office Retail, and I represent the tenant, Lantern Theater Company.
Thank you. Our Vice Chair has a few questions.
Mr. Masters, do you agree to wave the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
I do, and it is a referral, not a refusal.
Okay. It appears that you've submitted all of the required documents five days in advance
of this hearing. Is that correct? That is correct.
Okay. You may proceed and share your screen.
Thank you. Please. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board again, Steve Masters representing
Lantern Theatre Company.
I'm going to walk us through these exhibits, and then we're going to hear briefly from
Stacey Dutton, the executive director of Lantern Theatre Company. We'll have our architect,
Dick Winston, go through the drawings and the photos very briefly. And then we're going to
have our traffic engineer present the traffic plan. And this is all because at the community
meetings, there was some amount of controversy around the parking, the impact of a parking of
of this project so i do want to fill the record with with the necessary information in in the
event that there are um objectors who are going to be coming to testify so um exhibit one is the
refusal i'm sorry the referral for just um it the we really are applying for a a performing arts
theater and we and as you'll see we have a proviso that we've agreed to with the with the community
group east minority neighbors to limit this special exception to a performing arts theater
but at the moment lni has given us the category of assembling entertainment
exhibit two are petitions in support from near neighbors we have we have 12 of those
And then in Exhibit 3, we have the RCO letter of support from East Mentoring Neighbors.
They list a number of different suggestive provisos,
and I believe that at least one of their witnesses will be testifying to that later.
at least one of their witnesses will be testifying to that later.
For the meeting summary, we had 33 attendees voting in support and nine
opposed, and it was an overwhelming, it was 50 attendees total, it was an overwhelming level
of support from the community. Exhibit four, we have a letter of support from Councilwoman
Cindy Bass, from Congressman Dwight Evans, from State Senator Art Haywood, and from State
Representative Chris Rabb. The provisos that we're going to be talking about today are two. One is
to the change of use limited to performing arts theater only, and the second is that theater
patron parking to be managed in accordance with the attached action plan for travel and parking
for patrons of the Lantern Theater in Mount Airy, which was something that we worked closely with
the community on. So with exhibit six, we're going to get to the architects'
role and exhibit seven is the parking study. We'll just skip through those for the moment.
uh it's kind of a long parking study
and we'll go to the last few exhibits the zoning posters um that were posted on on both um
both street facing sides um
we have uh presentations to the rco that we will be going through and
And the tax clearance certificate, the deed and the lease, our application for a special
exception, our project information form, and the RCO notice letter, and we had a second meeting
with a flyer, and we have proof of mailing. So just to give you a brief introduction,
the Lantern Theater Company is a professional not -for -profit theater company that was established
in 1994 and has been producing a full main stage subscription series of plays in Center City at
St. Stephen's Theatre since 1996. The Lantern will continue to produce plays at St. Stephen's Theatre
and is excited to move its educational program and new artistic programming to the Mount Airy
Theatre. The Lantern secured a long -term lease to develop this performance venue in the former
Mount Airy Presbyterian Church located in the business district of Mount Airy on Germantown
Avenue and Mount Pleasant. The theater will become the home of the Lantern's educational programs,
including the student matinee performances and their theater school. They also plan to operate
a theater camp in the summers and to deepen relationships with partner schools in the
Philadelphia School District. The theater will have a capacity of 170 to 180 patrons
in a flexible black box style performance space.
And at this point, I'm going to call on Stacey Dutton
to raise her hand and come in
and just affirm that information up till now.
Could you state your name, please,
and spell for the court reporter?
oh i'm sorry you you were not able to hear that were you all right could you state your name and
spell for the court reporter stacy dutton s -t -a -c -y d as in david u -t -t -o -n right do you
swear firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth i do proceed um good
Good afternoon, Stacy. So you have heard my testimony. Do you accept it as true and correct
and adopt it as your own? I do. Great. I would like you to walk us through the action plan for
parking. And I will share that on the screen. I keep getting muted.
So we're having technical problems with Zoom. And as we can assist, we will,
And as we can assist, we will, but it's some crazy stuff going on with Zoom, okay?
but it's some crazy stuff going on with Zoom. Okay.
Thank you.
Understood.
Steve, I'll just wait for you to...
Okay, yeah, I'm locating this.
Let's see.
It's going to be...
Number nine.
there we go yeah um so at the conclusion of our first meeting with east mountain area neighbors
we were asked uh to um create an action plan to explain to our patrons how we would um both
guide them to how to travel and park near the theater in such a way as to not inconvenience
neighbors and to direct them away from the residential streets, specifically like Durham
and Mount Pleasant and Chew, and towards the commercial corridor of Germantown Avenue,
including some of the public and private parking lots that are available to them.
So what you see here on the screen right now is our executive summary. We emphasize that we have
many multiple and frequent points of contact where we can share this information with our
patrons, printed materials, email correspondence, as well as phone calls to our box office and
always available on our website. And we committed to use, we commit to use all of these opportunities
to communicate to our ticket buyers about the best way for them to come to our theater in Mount
area and where to park, again, so as to help us be good neighbors and for them to be good
neighbors with us. Specifically, you know, in conjunction with the parking study that we
commissioned, we really wanted to direct them to parking on the commercial corridor to Germantown
Avenue, where there is ample street parking, particularly south of Mount Pleasant and down
towards Gorgas Lane and Carpenter. And we also reached out to the senior vice president of
market operations for Philadelphia of Acme Markets, who was quite welcoming. The Acme is
one block from the proposed theater at 711 Germantown Avenue. And Mr. Crosby,
it is a private lot it's a grocery store it's quite a large lot and he couldn't have been more
welcoming and said that you know our patrons are his customers whether they live in Mount Airy or
at another Acme in their hometown and that that that he would be happy to work with us to
allow parking there in particular because there is a large stretch of parking in that lot that
is very close to Germantown Avenue and quite far away from the grocery store entrance with a small
staircase from the parking lot to Germantown Avenue. It's why the logistics of this particular
lot make it so appealing for, frankly, for our purposes. Just scrolling on a little bit
about how we can communicate this to our patrons printed materials such as subscription packages
which we mail annually all patrons receive ticket confirmations by email and we include
information about travel and parking to our theaters in this conference in this ticket
confirmation a few days before their scheduled performance we send them another pre -show
reminder by email and their tickets which they now usually do print out at home fewer and fewer
people actually use the old -fashioned printed tickets that are sent we also have an opportunity
which we already do to include travel and parking information there our patrons often call into the
box office to seek information about where where to dine near the theaters where to park how to
travel whether public transportation or in their own cars and so we would commit to train our box
officers as we already do with our center city location to how to best direct them at mountain
area as well and then of course we will always have information about travel and parking available
on our website we included in this action plan for the community some samples of what these
communications with our patrons look like, including just if you scroll through, this
um including just if you scroll through this would be information that would be on our website
would be information that would be.
um and and we want to specifically uh say that that you know this this is of mutual interest we
want to be uh a good neighbor um and and participant in this well -established community
um several members of the lantern staff including myself and the artistic director live in mount
Mary, so it's a community we know well and we certainly wish to maintain good relations in.
So what you're seeing now is actually a web page that we created and made available for community members and near neighbors to view
with all the travel and parking information,
including, for example, the residential streets that we would recommend that they avoid
and not spend time on and not inconvenience folks or include themselves. And then where,
for example, there's a Philadelphia Parking Authority lot, where the ACME lot is, etc.
And then just scrolling to the final pieces that we included in the action plan are samples of our tickets to print at home, which would, in this case, it's another different venue, but it includes lots of information to help patrons prepare, including directions to the theaters and live web links to get more information.
Similarly, this is a printed home ticket, and this box has information about parking and where we direct patrons.
And this information is, you know, specific to the venue where we are producing the give and play.
And this is just a little bit of marketing collateral for our subscription and our education program.
In particular, this, just scroll up just a tiny bit, Steve.
On the right is a photograph from our annual production of Romeo and Juliet for Philadelphia's middle and high school students.
So that, I think that that hopefully explains, you know, how we responded to our first RCO meeting with East Mountaineers and we had a really productive second meeting with E -Man.
and which had the successful outcome that Steve described.
All right. Thank you, Stacey.
So we are going to jump to our parking engineer
to briefly share some slides on the parking study
because you've seen now how we're going to tell people
who are patrons of the Lantern where to park,
but now we're going to demonstrate to you
that there will be parking spaces for them to use
so that they won't be parking in front of people's homes
in the residential areas near the business corridor.
So Lori Ware, can you raise your hand at this point?
Ms. Ware, you can unmute yourself
and wait for the chair, please.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Absolutely.
My name is Lori Ware, L -O -R -I, Ware, W -A -R -E.
Right.
Do you swear for them to tell the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I have found.
Mr. Masters, in this presentation,
will you make sure that we don't go back
and cover what's already been covered?
Because I think you did a fabulous job.
She did a fabulous job of talking about
where not to park and where to park.
Yes, our engineer, Lori Ware,
is going to describe to us the studies
that were done to demonstrate
that there is availability of parking
in those areas.
But first, I would like, Mr. Chair,
if she could be declared to be an expert
Um, and, and if you, uh, we have her, her resume here, um, but, um, it's where, can you just
briefly describe your expertise and your role at, at your, um, engineering company?
Um, I am the, um, manager of traffic services for Dawood Engineering.
Uh, our company is headquarters are based out of Harrisburg.
Um, I have been with Dawood Engineering for, um, almost 12 years now.
My years of experience actually are at 16 with a prior firm as well. I've done multiple traffic studies and parking studies, both in Philadelphia region and actually in New Jersey as well.
I have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in transportation engineering, and I hold a professional engineering license and a professional traffic operations engineer license as well.
i asked if she could be recognized as a as a traffic and parking expert absolutely she is
okay thank you um all right um it's where this is a graphic
All right. This is where this is a graphic. I'm going to make it a little smaller so we can all see it completely. This is a graphic prepared by an active leader of East Manoray Nativeverse. And can you tell us what we are looking at here?
Yes. So the areas in green in particular are the areas in which we have performed a traffic study, a parking study.
And what that means is we went out during the proposed times of the listed plays and performances and actually did an active count.
We counted how many parking spots were available and how many parking spots were actually occupied so that we could get a snapshot of the time and date of when these performances will occur.
Yes, can you tell us what, just identify the lot number one, lot number three, and lot number eight for us?
sure lot number one is the univest parking lot lot number three is the public parking that is
right behind the florist that's right there right off germantown avenue and parking lot number eight
is the acme parking lot that is that stacy said was uh one block from the proposed theater
and this area here is the proposed theater correct yes okay all right now we're ready for
your slides so we can skip that one like we already gave my experience um so we had we did
perform a parking study which as you can see it it gives an idea of what is available for parking
in addition to what is actually occupied at those particular times a traffic study we didn't feel
was appropriate as that really deals more with traveling traffic and not traffic that is going
to be parked. And it did seem from the residence meeting that that was the largest concern.
So this can give you an idea. We did perform the traffic study or the parking study in September
of last year. And as a reaction to some of the concerns that were brought up with the RCO meetings,
we went out and actually performed additional counts at the Univest and Acme parking lots to
give a more well -rounded idea of what is going to occur at those parking lots that can help out
the parking availability excuse me we determined that the if you look at the corridor of germantown
avenue sedgwick and the previous lots that were listed on that diagram there were 520 available
spots. We did start the counts about one hour prior to performances. That way it's an idea of
when people would arrive for those performances. The COVID considerations, we do know obviously
that with COVID experiences that a lot of people are not traveling as much to the commercial and
retail businesses. However, there are, since it is residential, there are more and more vehicles that
were parked in that vicinity so we did consider it a balance however and thank you you can keep
going as we were looking at a lot of the estimated travelers to this area for this this generation
we determined that the maximum amount that would be traveling to this facility based on the
engineering standards would be 83 vehicles this also did assume approximately two people for
vehicle and it did assume that no one was using public transit or ride share and no one would walk
which we know is not as accurate there will be people using public transit and rides here
the determination from our parking study did determine that there are a multitude of available
spots you can see the the three largest considerations were thursday friday and
Saturday, which were the largest concerns, obviously, for the residents as well. When we
were able to go back out and perform the parking study on the Acme and the Univest, we did determine
that there was a large availability for those parking lots as well during the Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday batonets. So we do feel like there is ample parking specifically in these locations
for patrons when they are actually actively attending any entertainment events at the
Lantern Theater. So just to guide us a bit through this table, where my cursor is now in the very
right -hand column, can you tell us what the total numbers mean? Yes. So we split it up so that it
was easier to understand for anybody who's looking at the table. The lots and the corridors that were
specifically listed on the left -hand part of the screen. That Germantown Avenue is specifically
between Mount Airy and Cedric. That Cedric Street corridor is actually between the Acne lot and
That Cedric Street corridor is actually between the Acme lot and up to Germantown.
It does not include any of the residential portions of Cedric Street.
And then the three lots below it are the public lots that have already been provided access.
The two lots below that are the Univest and Acme.
Those are the ones that were counted since there was an agreement with the Acme facilities and Univest also in works.
to be able to use those parking spaces so the bottom row here the available spaces
this this number that's in bold these are can you tell us what that means in terms of
the 83 spaces that you calculated are needed on on any different performance day sure so if you
look to the the right it gives you the total part available parking spaces for each of the facilities
either the corridors or the parking lots as a whole the numbers the bolded numbers at the bottom
that are the available spaces from the counts that we performed now like i said we did the
universe and the acne lots um just friday thursday friday and saturday for the batonet
however the available spots below that the and you're looking at it it's 120 106 103 that
row across does provide the number of available parking spots just in those locations in that
corridor and for the two corridors of Germantown and Sedgwick so that's just like the street
parking not the lots okay correct it does not include the lots we did not perform the parking
counts at that point for those lots so I didn't want to misconstrue any of the information however
if you are conservative and assume the worst case scenarios of the counts there would be over 200
parking spots at those times if you're using the most conservative counts that were done for all
of the remaining parking spots which would be saturday night would be the most the most um
the least amount of available parking was saturday night and we still have 200 spots
and we need 83 yes um okay and a couple more slides here okay that just gives the the
justification as to saturday was the saturday was the highest that required the most parking spots
and everything else was below that number so we use the most conservative value of 83 for the
engineering standard. Okay, thank you so much. Thank you. I'm just going to call briefly
Dick Winston if he is around to just walk us very briefly through the plans and then
I think we're going to rest. Mr. Winston, state your name and spell for the court reporter.
richard winston r -i -c -h -a -r -d w -i -n -s -t -o -n excuse me i'm a principal at edozy collaborative
architecture and planning firm you swear a firm to tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the
truth yes i do proceed um dick thank you for hanging in there all right we are on your turn
so uh we are looking at the site plan here will you tell us what we are looking at happy to
I'll be very brief, Mr. Chair. This is an overall site plan of the Mount Airy Presbyterian Church
complex. The cross -hatched areas are a separate development, redevelopment of the church buildings
as a 20 -unit condo, which has recently completed construction. The left side,
closer to Germantown Avenue is a parking structure, which you'll see in the photographs
momentarily. And the shaded area is the project itself for Lantern Theater.
Why don't we go on to the next one, Steve? Steve, do you want to comment on zoning at all?
I don't think we need to, do we? No, I don't think. Okay. So here you're seeing a few photographs
photographs of the exterior conditions. There's the new parking structure and the condo building
behind. The theater will be housed in the church sanctuary, which you're seeing there,
that we're across Germantown Avenue. Here we're looking at that intersection of Mount Pleasant
and Germantown, and you'll see momentarily the only intervention we're proposing on the outside.
We're looking up Mount Pleasant Avenue toward Germantown, and this is the,
excuse me one of the entrances to the condo building and a side entrance to the to the theater
itself this is that same view of the intersection than what we wanted to share with you here is
the only thing we propose for the outside is a small canopy with signage
The only thing we propose for the outside is a small canopy with signage on it to identify the main entrance that will be used for patrons.
And that is, members of the board, that is not on our application today, but we are planning to do that in the future.
Thank you.
Going to the interior, we're in the sanctuary now looking toward the chancel, toward the pulpit, and the next view looking the opposite direction.
you can see that this is a very handsome Gothic Revival building with beautiful hammer beams,
beautiful stained glass, all of which we intend to preserve. One change will be that we will not
be organizing the seating in quite the same way as is conducive to how a lantern mounts
productions. Just to give you a little bit of a feel, a few snapshots of the lower floor,
the basement which is partly a sort of back of house space now with some utilitarian
offices and meeting space two bathrooms and then approximately half of the basement is
unfinished and will become it's proposed to become storage for the theater
what we're proposing then just to orient you germantown is to our right
and Mount Pleasant is at the top of the drawing.
The way the theater mounts its productions
means that the seating changes quite a bit
from one play to another.
But what we're proposing then is large playing area.
Often it'll be in a thrust form
and possibly, at least in this case,
three -sided seating facing the performance area.
The other significant change
is that we want to add a bathroom
for convenience and accessibility purposes
where there's only a single user bathroom now
and enlarged stairs to the basement.
Patrons will primarily be coming in the lobby from Germantown,
if you recall that photograph.
It would be the upper right -hand corner,
would be the main entrance, but both doors will be used.
And then going to the lower level,
we want to provide a lot more accommodation for patrons by building more bathroom space
and then of course the actors and staff need their own space in order to prepare for put on makeup
you know things like that so they will have their own bathrooms this all this configuration is
tentative but that's the intent and then the tan area as you can see is where the theater will store
flats and other materials for first reductions and that's a quick run through yes thank you
so much i think we are ready to rest at this point uh questions from the board no mr chairman
no mr chairman no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual audience
chair we have someone by the name of simha rosenberg mr or miss rosenberg you can unmute
yourself or wait for the chair can you hear me hi could you state your name and spell it for
the court reporter sure it's simha rosenberg that's spelled s as in sally i m as in mary h a
r -o -s -e -n -b -e -r -g do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do affirm precise so um i live very near we're in i live in in the um new development in one of
the units and i just wanted to say uh you know um i my husband and i are very excited to have the
theater be in our neighborhood. We think that especially this kind of theater that works closely
with the community will be a real asset. Thank you very much. Thank you for calling in. Any other
comments or questions from the virtual audience? Chair, we have Nina Curlett. Ms. Curlett, you can
unmute yourself or wait for the chair. Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court
reporter sure my name is nina carlett n -i -n -a c -u -r -l -e -t -t right do you swear or affirm to
tell the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth yes proceed um i i am um the co -chair of
eastbound area neighbors zoning um and i just wanted to make clear that i'm sorry
phone never rings till the very moment you're speaking on zoom um i just wanted to make clear
Zoom. I just wanted to make clear that the neighbors did all vote in support. The RCO is
that the neighbors um
in support. I do believe that the Lantern Theater made a very good effort to try to work out the
parking issues, which were the main concerns of the neighbors. I think the way our letter was
written, slightly misrepresented or confused the issue of the proviso being asked. I think
Steve Masters was able to explain that to me a little bit yesterday. I think he may need to
qualify that for the board for our letter to actually stand if he may do that for us.
Thank you very much. We appreciate you calling in your time.
anyone else in the virtual audience
i see no hands at this time chair planning commission good afternoon mr chairman members
of the board david effecto city planning commission the comprehensive plan recommends
no change to the commercial and residential mixed use zoning this location the applicant
has shown that the proposed assembly and entertainment will have no more of an impact
than assembly and entertainment would be expected to have so the city planning commission recommends
the board grant the special exception. Thank you. Mr. Chair, we do want those provisos. So let me
put those up again so you can have a look at those. Rebecca? Rebecca? Yes, I'm here. I'm waiting.
Are these enforceable for us?
I do not believe those are enforceable by L &I.
Yes, the change of use is, we are limiting it to the performing arts theater use, not to assembly and entertainment in general. That's definitely a proper proviso.
Rebecca, so this is an agreement between the theater and the neighbors, but
L &I can't enforce private agreements.
um okay yeah so we're not asking you to enforce a private agreement we want the zoning board to
issue these as provisos between um for our for our special exception i know steve that's what
you want but i'm i'm asking rebecca yeah as our attorney are these enforceable
i'd like to review with sharon on a couple points here um okay i don't know how to proceed at this
exact moment okay so hi chair this is tanya i was going to ask the same if that is all at all
possible sure so why don't why don't we do this why don't we um you know why don't we just hold
the vote and we'll take it to executive session next wednesday morning and we'll vote next wednesday
morning planning commission is already ruled so we're we'll do this next wednesday morning
okay very good thank you thank you so much all right thank you okay
m i 2021
005321 741 north 23rd street
rco letter of support rachel pritzker named as the attorney
chair we have brandon saverin coming back in the panelist name okay
good afternoon again mr chairman all right brandon you've already been sworn um could you
state who your client the relationship they have with the property sure my client is
Chabad of Fairmount Inc. They are the property owner, and that is a non -profit corporation in
Pennsylvania. Okay. Our vice chair has a few questions. Hi, Mr. Sovereign. Do you agree to
waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. I assume you've sent in
all the required documents timely? Yes, we have. Okay. You may proceed and share your screen.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Okay. So the property that is the subject of this application for variances is 741 North 23rd Street.
This was consolidated by a prior owner.
Atlas, unfortunately, when looking at the zoning map, does not draw the parcel lines in a manner that reflects that consolidation.
but if you follow my cursor here, it is this box that includes...
It is this box that includes the CMX1 area and then this RSA5 area.
This is the property.
So it stretches from 23rd Street to Krosky.
And this is Aspen Street here.
This was most recently a restaurant and bar.
And what we are proposing to do, what my client Chabad of Fairmount is proposing to do, is use this property for several uses.
And before I get into that, I just want to say for the benefit of the board that Chabad is a religious organization.
It is essentially a synagogue of Jewish congregants that currently lacks a physical home.
They meet in people's homes in the neighborhood. So this application is in the effort to get them
a proper synagogue building. So what they're proposing to do is use the first floor as an
entry space and as the synagogue chapel itself, which would be sort of where my hand is now here
on the right. The second and third floor would be used for child care use. So that is a nursery
school and preschool uh in the jewish faith um it is not for a primary school like an elementary
school um in addition on the ground floor on the a portion of the 23rd street frontage sort of here
and this is all part of the same property it's all connected internally um this would be a kosher
delicatessen and cafe so um there is some but not a ton of kosher food uh in philadelphia
available to people that observe the laws of cash route.
And this would offer informal takeout and sit down bites for individuals in the neighborhood
that whether they are they're kosher or not, who like traditionally Jewish food.
So this is a rendering of what the space might look like before moving.
And just keep in mind, we are not before you requesting these on awnings and signs today.
that would be handled under a separate application with L &I, but otherwise this is how we envision
this looking, and there's that cafe I mentioned, and here would be the chapel, and again on the
upper floor is, third floor is like a partial third floor, there would be the nursery school
preschool. So we do have community support. Just to sort of break this out a little bit,
I'm going to read into the record the summary paragraph here. So it says that the RCO overwhelmingly
supports the variances for daycare, which is actually child care center use on the application,
and religious assembly. However, there are significant unresolved issues concerning the
requested variance for the roof deck. Optimally, the RCO supports approval of the use variances
and parking variance with the proviso that the applicant withdraw the variance for the roof deck
until such time as consensus can be reached within the community. So what I'm going to propose to you
today is that you approve our application with the proviso for no roof deck. It's not really
possible to withdraw, you know, parts of our application and not others, but by placing a
proviso on the application that says no roof deck, I believe will meet the RCO's request.
And to show you our zoning plan, there are some elevations and a traditional site plan on the
first page. On the second page is a key plan that breaks down the different uses within the space.
There is, as I mentioned, the chapel for religious assembly. This is the orange area
would be the kosher cafe that I mentioned. Second floor is all child care. Third floor is
child care as well. And I can come back to that as needed. I have the architect online here who
drew these plans. If you have any questions for him. I also have the rabbi of the congregation,
Rabbi Hershey Sputz, who will adopt my testimony. And you can also ask him any questions you'd like.
just to quickly run through the refusal. So interesting property, just to go back really
quickly to the zoning map, keep in mind that about 75 % of the land area of the property is CMX1
and 25 % is RSA5. So under the new guidelines, I believe were adopted last year.
The new guidelines, I believe, were adopted last year, early last year for split zone properties.
This is governed by the RSA five rules, even though it's mostly covered by CMX one. So
accordingly, religious assembly is prohibited on this property. That would be by right if this
was CMX one. Childcare center use is prohibited on this property. That would be permitted by
special exception if this was cmx one um the roof deck is a non -issue as we're asking you to um
essentially uh prohibit us from doing a roof deck um and then there is uh there are two refusals
for the lack of parking so just looking at the building again real quickly it is simply not
feasible to provide parking because this is a structure that occupies 100 of the lot area and
we would have to demolish part of it, which we'd rather not do. We believe that constitutes a
hardship. I am really hoping that the community support will carry the day here, but for the
record, I do have to say to preserve the issue in the unfortunate event that this would wind up in
court somehow, that we believe that the fact that the RSA 5 designation controls the property and
prohibits religious assembly and the associated childcare use, despite the fact that most of the
property is zoned CMX1, is arbitrary and capricious and essentially is a restriction without rationale
that the code imposes over a use that has some constitutional protection. So we take issue with
that. And that would be something we would press only if we did not get the variances today off
the support we have in other ways here. So that's my presentation. I'm hoping that somebody from
Fairmount Civic Association and perhaps Mary Jones from the council president's office are
in the audience. But I'm happy to take any questions. Brandon, why don't you do the rabbi
first to adopt our testimony absolutely um so uh rabbi hershey sputs is his name
rabbi could you state your name and spelled for the court reporter
tour thank you uh my legal name is sweet t as in tom z as in zebra v as in victor i as in igloo
last name sputs s as in sam p as in peter u t as in tom z as in zebra right do you swear or
affirm to tell the truth. The whole truth is nothing but the truth. I affirm. Thank you. Go
ahead, Brandon. Hi, Rabbi. Did you hear my testimony in this case today? Yes. And is it true
and accurate to the best of your knowledge? Yes. Thank you. And would you adopt it as your own
therefore? Yes. Okay. Just stick around in case the board or others have questions for you.
questions from the board no mr chairman no mr chairman questions or comments from the virtual
audience we have mary jones from the councilman's office miss jones you can unmute yourself and wait
for the chair jones could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter
excuse me yes uh mary jones uh from council president daryl clark's office city hall room
494 right you swear affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do proceed please uh yes based on um communication from the uh coordinating rco
as well as at their special request,
the council president does not have
any opposition to this project.
Thank you very much for calling in, Ms. Jones.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Teresa Holberg.
Ms. Holberg, you can unmute yourself
and wait for the chair.
Ms. Holberg, could you state your name
and spell it for the court reporter?
It's Teresa Holberg,
spelled h -o -b as in boy e -r -g as in girl right you swear for him to tell tell the truth the
whole truth and nothing but the truth i do could you spell your first name please
teresa sorry it's spelled t -e -r -e -s -a thank you proceed i am a director and a zoning co -chair
of the fairmount civic association and i prepared the letter of support for this property and i just
want to reiterate that there is widespread and really overwhelming support for these
use variances. The only issue that we did have was the roof deck, and since that's been withdrawn,
The only issue that we did have was the roof deck, and since that's been withdrawn, there really aren't any issues with this proposal.
Thank you very much for calling in.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Elizabeth McGorn.
Ms. McGorn, you can unmute yourself and wait for the chair.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Elizabeth McGurn, M -C -G -O -U -R -N.
Right.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
I'd like to ask where the drop -off for the children is going to be.
I'm sorry.
You can continue.
It's just that you're not here to ask questions.
Please remember that.
Just give testimony.
I'm concerned.
My testimony is I live on Krosky Street.
There is a fire door there.
that is only supposed to be opened in the event of a fire,
and I'm concerned that there's going to be a lineup
of people dropping their children off in the morning.
Thank you very much for calling in.
We'll get to that point before they leave.
Anyone else in the virtual audience?
Chair, we have Claudia Siegel.
Ms. Siegel, you can unmute yourself or wait for the chair.
Hi, could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter?
Claudia Siegel, C -L -A -U -D -I -A -S -I -E -G -E -L.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed.
I just want to express my support for all the FCA recommendations concerning the property at 741 North 23rd.
I am unequivocally opposed, and this is also in concert with the FCA.
unequivocally opposed to any roof deck on the property. Okay. Okay. Is there anyone else in
the virtual audience? I see no other hands at this time, Chair. Brandon, do you want to respond to
anything before I give to the planning? Sure. So as I believe I mentioned earlier, we consider
Kroski Street to be sort of the third frontage here. There is no plan to use that as a primary
entrance. Aspen and 23rd are the primary frontages, and we will be applying to the
parking authority to create a loading zone on Aspen Street that will be, hopefully,
if granted to us, operable during business hours. Thank you very much. Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. David Fecto, City Planning Commission. Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
comprehensive plan recommends no change to the commercial and residential mixed use zoning at
this location. A daycare and religious assembly would be allowed if the proposal were entirely
on a CMX1 zoned lot. And we believe that child care is an activity that a reasonable person would
expect to be a companion use to a religious assembly. So the City Planning Commission
recommends that the Board grant these variances and we're going to throw in with the Civic and
request no roof deck. MI 2021 005321 740 North 23rd Street I vote yes proviso no roof deck.
Carol Tenere my vote is yes proviso. Thomas Holloman my vote is yes with proviso.
James Snell yes we're proviso
Ishmael Shaheed yes we're proviso
thank you okay MI 2021 005 303 802 North Banbury Street
do not see an RCO letter yet there may be one that came in
Gavin and Kristen Archidicano sorry if I didn't pronounce it right
They're coming back in as a panelist now, Chair.
Could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter?
oh yes sorry i had to hop off that's okay state your name and spell for the court reporter please
gavin archidiacono g -a -v -i -n -a -r -c -i -d -i -a -c -o -n -o right do you swear or affirm to tell
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes. Okay. Our vice chair has a few
um our vice chair has a few questions hi good afternoon do you um i assume that you've submitted
questions.
all the required documents is that correct that's correct okay you may proceed and can you share
your screen with us thank you okay good afternoon chairman and board um my name is gavin archer
Iacono, and my wife is Kristen. We are, this is our home, 802 North Banbury Street. Our architect,
Jan Kang, is on as well as a participant. I will be going through the refusal, the exhibits,
our community meeting, pictures, and floor plan. This is our refusal. The reason we're doing this
is we're expanding our family. We have a daughter coming in May, and we have 960 square feet in our
current home. We're adding an addition onto the third floor. The refusal is for an eight -foot
setback on the front of the house. This eight -foot setback would prohibit us from adding two bedrooms
onto the third floor for our expanding family and our expanding family moving forward.
The exhibits, these are the pictures of the zoning notice in the window. This is March 14th.
This is our tax clearance. This is the letter of authorization from my wife and I as owners. This is the deed to our home, our project information form.
The RCO meeting, these are the certified letters that we sent out to our 210 neighbors for the RCO meeting.
In preparation for the RCO meeting, I went around to all of our neighbors on our block. There was not a single person that I spoke to who was in opposition. We have a petition that I got signed by 45 of my neighbors. We are the 800 block of Banbury, as you can see here. And these are all of our neighbors, a bunch of our neighbors that signed. So we felt the overwhelming support.
This is a letter from Teresa, the co -chairman of the Fairmont Civic Association and head of zoning.
She is also on the call, as you heard before.
These are the neighbors that are in close proximity, 14 support, zero opposed.
And there's Teresa.
it. Just to get into some of the meat of it, this is our home right here, and there are
a bunch of houses on our block with third floors built to the end. So, it's not like we'd be the
only one built to the end here. Directly across the street, there's one and these, and I'll show
pictures. So, this is our home right here, and then directly across the street is this third
floor built to the end if you take a look at this on the right here and actually all of these
pictures you can see that these two trees provide a ton of shade for our street so us having a third
floor built to the end really won't affect uh the the shade uh or the the sunlight that's provided
because of these these huge trees uh and this seems to be the sunniest day of the year here
as you can see this is me standing in front of our house right off the stoop facing northbound
you can see there's a third floor built to the end here third floor built to the end here third
floor built to the end here and then I moved up and I took another picture I'm standing right here
now and this is where that picture is so this third floor built to the end is this house right
here. Uh, and then, and then you have these two houses, which you can see I turned right for this
picture. That's actually the corner of this house. So these two houses are built to the end as well.
And then these last two. So we have a ton of houses on our block that are built to the end.
Um, and so uniformity, um, and you can see the style of these houses and you'll see in the plans
in a minute the style of these houses is very in conjunction with how we planned our home
and these are the plans so I'll go through the plans now we have the basement and then the first
floor here existing the second floor here existing with a very small bedroom on the back
then this is what we're looking to add this is a nursery for our daughter due in May
And then up here is another bedroom and a bathroom and then the roof.
And then this is our home, and then this is what we're looking to add on the front.
So you can see it's very similar to the houses that are in Fairmount and the ones that are on our block.
And what we're asking for is to be able to build to the end so that we can add that extra bedroom for our family moving forward.
and if anyone has any questions available.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman.
All right.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board,
The Comprehensive Plan recommends no change to the residential single -family zoning at this location.
Granting the variance will not impair the use of adjacent properties,
so the City Planning Commission recommends that the Board grant the dimensional variance.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -005303, 802 North Banbury Street, I vote yes.
Harold Tenere, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
ishmael shaheed my vote is yes
congratulations to you and and good luck in may
mi 2021 -003 -757 -897 north 45th street
mr knockamson
rco letter in support
Chair, Mr. Nockleson is coming back in as a panelist now.
Mr. Nockleson, state your name and spell for the court reporter, please.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the board.
Allen, A -L -A -N, last name Occamson, N -O -C -H -U -M -S -O -N, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 1600, Philadelphia
PA, 19109.
Do you swear a firm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client in a relationship to the property?
Yes, my client or clients are IRA Development, LLC, and MCOS Enterprises, LLC, the joint owners of the property.
Our vice chair has a few questions for you.
Hi, Mr. Notkinson. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
Based on my notes, I see that you've sent in all the required documents timely. Is that correct?
I have sent all the documents to the ZBA. Okay, you may proceed and share your screen.
All right, thank you very much. Thank you.
I assume everyone can see my screen here. I'm just going to go in full screen mode.
all right all right so i'm here to present 897 north 45th street it's a property located in west
philadelphia in my presentation packet you'll see the notice of refusal letter of support from the
people's emergency center community development corporation i also spoke earlier today with
Andrew Goodman, the district council member, zoning aid. I don't know if Mr. Goodman's on,
but he indicated to me that their office was also in non -opposition to this project,
so I will make that representation as an officer of the court if Mr. Goodman's not here today
at this moment. We have maps of the area, photographs of the property, plans and drawings,
proof that we had a community meeting by way of a meeting notice, and proof of mailing of that
notice to the affected properties. Our deed to the property showing that IRA Development
LLC and MCOS Enterprises LLC are the owners of the property. And our certificate of tax
clearance. Online today, I have the corporate representative of the owner, Ifeann I -Chu
Mr. Koo Eze, Mr. Eze will be adopting my testimony.
All right, so this is a CMX2 property.
All right. So this is a CMX2 property. All we're looking to do is make it a single family structure. And you'll see from the drawings, excuse me, the photographs of the previous structure that's there. All we're trying to do is right now is a vacant lot is to build the structure where a single family home was there.
All we're looking at
If you look at the surrounding area, left and right of us, they're single -family structures, even though they're CMX2.
The reason why we're asking for CMX2 is an undue hardship.
This lot is only approximately 600 square feet.
We cannot meet the code requirements of CMX2 based on the size of our lot.
Our only refusal is for the use, and there are no dimensional variances.
excuse me counselor can you show some pictures oh yes yes so i have uh the the letter of support
uh from the uh coordinating rco uh it was unanimously supported by the community and
again as i indicated mr goodman stated to me that the district council member uh is in uh
non -opposition just maps of the area again i'll just you know go over to the photographs of the
property. So this is what the property looks like now. It's a vacant lot. We're in between
two, three -story structures. This is the property to the right of the property. This is the right
of the property on North 45th to the left of the property on North 45th. And then this is from
Google Maps. So in October of 2014, when there was a building structure there, it was a three -story
single -family structure. And then, you know, this property is owned by an entity that
is owned by Kumas Homes, one of the larger single -family home builders in the Philadelphia
area. So, they're known for building quality product, to emulate, you know, the traditional
brick facade, and to have high -end finishes, such as what I'm showing as examples.
and then just our plans and drawings like i said you know we're going to have you know a three -story
structure roof deck uh single family living uh this is you know you walk through uh an open
floor plan you have a living room in the kitchen you have a lower level uh portion of the property
you go up flight of steps uh you have one bedroom uh with a bathroom and then really a second
bedroom uh with a bathroom which is the master plus a roof deck up top again no dimensional
variances here merely just trying to do a single family home that was what was there previously
before the building was torn down that's what's still left and to the right of us on north 45th
street and then just you know proof of our notice that we sent to the community we met on february
24th 2022 at 5 p .m there are 133 addresses that were notified of our community meeting
these are listed by the addresses
this is our proof of mailing to those addresses our application to for appeal to the zba
along with our project information form and notice of refusal
our deed to the property, showing that IRA Development and MKOS Enterprises LLC are the
owners of the property, and our Certificate of Tax Clearance, showing that my client owes
no funds to the city of Philadelphia with respect to this property.
With that being said, I would ask that Mr. Eze virtually raise his hand so he could doubt
my testimony and then we would take any questions that the board may have regarding this project
could you state your name and spell for the court reporter please
do you hear me now yes could you state your name is spelled for the court reporter
Yes, it's Ifani Chukwueze, spelled I -F -E -A -N -Y -I -C -H -U -K -W -U, last name E -Z -E.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Proceed, sir.
Mr. Eze, you heard everything I stated today.
And is it true and correct?
Correct.
and do you adopt it as your own testimony i do thank you questions from the board no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
Planning Commission?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, members of the board gave effect to a city planning commission.
The applicant has shown that the inclusion of a commercial first floor would not be feasible given the property's location, lot size, and character of the block.
So the city planning commission recommends that the board grant the use of variance.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -003 -757 -897 -North 45th Street.
I vote yes.
Carol Tannery, my vote is yes.
Thomas Holliman, my vote is yes.
James Snell, my vote is yes.
Ishmael Shaheed, my vote is yes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Is there anyone in the audience that their case from the 2 o 'clock listings was not called?
I see no hands at this time, Chair.
We're going to go right into the 3 .30 list.
My name is Bill Bergman, and I will be chairing this EBA hearing.
With me is Carol Tenere, our vice chair.
Present.
Ismail Shahid, our board secretary.
Present, Mr. Chair.
Thomas Holliman, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
James Snell, our board member.
Present, Mr. Chairman.
Executive Director Tanya Sunkett is here, along with our attorney, Rebecca Cole.
Before we begin, here's our virtual format.
Be advised the proceedings are being recorded.
By participating, you acknowledge your agreement to be recorded.
A video will be available by contacting our Executive Director, TanyaSunkett at phil .gov.
For the benefit of our court stenographer, we ask attorneys and witnesses to identify themselves before testifying.
If you are participating by phone, if you wish to testify, press star 9 to raise your hand and star 6 to unmute.
To enter an appearance statement, call 267 -270 -5548.
Leave your email and the address of the property in question.
Fourth, please note the question and answer box on the screen is not for testimony or comments.
Any comments have to be directed to our executive director, Tanya Sunkett.
Let me now look at continuances on the 330 list.
Number two, MI 2021 -004 -758.
And number five, MI 2021 -004 -659 -1216 East Lehigh Avenue. Anyone in the audience
has questions or comments about these two continuances?
Chair, oh, the hand just went down. There's no hands, Chair.
Okay, thank you. Both cases are continued.
I'm sorry, Chair, could you repeat what numbers were continued?
Number two, MI 2021 -004 -758 -136 West Sharpnack Street.
And number five, MI 2021 -004 -559 -2126 East Lehigh Avenue.
Thank you kindly, Chair.
Number one, MI 2021 -004 -660 -1233 East Luzerne Street.
We do not have any exhibits at this point, and it's the first listing.
Juan Gomez.
I see no hands, Chair.
That case is continued.
Must be tried.
MI 2021 -004 -661 -1438 North 17th Street. RCO letter of non -opposition with proviso,
no roof deck, Mr. Richard DeMarco. Mr. DeMarco is coming back in as a panelist.
hello good afternoon just spell your name or state your name for the court reporter
richard demarco d -m -a -r -c -o could you identify your client and the relationship to the property
yes my client is uh ling gang otherwise known as michelle quang who is the owner okay our
vice chair has a few questions. Hi, Mr. DeMarco. Do you agree to wait the reading of the refusal
and stipulate to its accuracy? Yes. Based on our notes, it does appear that you've submitted all
the required documents timely. Is that correct? Yes. Okay, you may proceed and please share your
is that correct yes okay you may proceed and please share your screen thank you thank you
screen.
so the refusal uh so we're here for two this is a permitted use members of the board and
mr chairman um we're proposing a multi -family dwelling in the rm1 um we did have a rco meeting
coordinated by mary jones the councilman's office there was non -opposition
We're dealing with two dimensional variances, and I can explain as to why there's a clear hardship posed by those requirements.
One of them is a side yard requirement of 12 feet, which I had to check on that twice because I thought it was a mistake, but it is not.
It's because we do have a side alley, a side yard, the side yard requirement is triggered and it's 12 feet in the RM1.
But the problem there, Mr. Chairman and members of the board, is the property is only 23 feet wide.
So if you were to apply a 12 -foot wide side yard, you would be unable to construct a structure that would be livable.
because you would need, you'd have 11 feet for your house. The other refusal is for required
parking, which is caused by an overlay. Because as most of us all know, in the RM1 classification,
a front -loaded curb cut is prohibited. So it causes a conflict in the code. We have no rear
access. The rear yard, the rear of the property is along other properties. We're landlocked,
So we cannot provide rear access parking.
So to provide that parking would cause a refusal and would be prohibited anyway.
And also, there is no room on the property.
I'll show you the plans in a moment to provide a parking space.
This is the floor plan.
We have no basement bedrooms.
There is a split level unit in the rear, but it has walkout access at the first floor into the side yard.
This is the side alleyway that we are proposing.
We are required to have access and egress for tenants from the rear yard in the event of an emergency.
That's what the three -foot side yard is for.
I'll show you the floor plan and the elevation.
I'll blow it up a little bit so you can see it a little better.
This is the three -foot alleyway, which generated that 12 -foot refusal.
As you can see, if we complied with a 12 -foot, we'd basically have half a house.
Again, there's no room for the parking.
This is the old property that's since been demolished.
It was a nuisance property, as you can tell.
It was deteriorating, but you can see here, there already was about a three -foot side yard for this property.
We're just maintaining that, what was the existing condition prior.
other photos let me collapse this you see there was some issues with this property it was
very poor condition my client inherited it demolished it i'll show you current conditions
and that's current conditions so let me ask michelle uh huang to uh show her hand raise
her hand virtually and i'll ask her to um adopt my statements
Why, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter, please?
Good afternoon. My name is Michelle Huang, M -I -C -H -E -L -L -E, last name H -U -A -N -G.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Proceed.
Michelle, did you hear my statements and facts, factual statements, and are they true and accurate, and can you adopt them as your testimony in this matter?
And is it correct that there is no room to be able to provide dedicated parking on this property that's only 23 feet wide?
And is it correct that if you were to comply with a side yard of 12 feet, you would be unable to construct the structure on the property? It would only be 11 feet wide. Is that right?
Mr. Chairman, that's all I have. Again, no opposition from the RCO. The use of five units is permitted in the district. Oh, and by the way, all tenants have access to the rear yard for trash storage through that three -foot rear yard.
so that's all i have questions from the board no mr chairman mr chairman mr chairman
No, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, questions or comment from the virtual audience.
I see no handshare. Planning Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good evening. David Fecto, City Planning Commission.
The city rezoned this neighborhood in 2017. At that time, the zoning remained residential
multi -family the variances for side yard and parking will not negatively impact the use of
adjacent properties and so the city planning commission recommends that the board grant these
variances mi 2021 004 661 1438 north 17th street i vote yes proviso no roof deck carol carol
Toneri, my vote is yes with Proviso.
Thomas Holloman, my vote is yes with Proviso.
James Snell, yes with Proviso.
Ishmael Shaheed, yes with Proviso.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Have a good afternoon.
Have a good night.
Thank you.
MI 2021 -004 -656 -2103 B. Ellsworth Street. No RCO letter from Point Breeze Community
Development Coalition, but letter of support is expected. Amber Alledef, Pro Se Equitable Owner.
Amber? Hello. Hi, could you state your name and spell for the court reporter? Yes, my name is
Amber Elhadeff, A -M -B -E -R -A -L -H -A -D -E -F -F. Thank you. Do swear or affirm to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, have you emailed the exhibit packet with all the required documents and they are proof
of ownership, tax compliance, a copy of the refusal, photos and plans of the property
five days in advance to this hearing and have you met with the RCO and do you have a letter?
Yes, to both.
Okay, you may proceed and share your screen.
Great.
you're up great um okay so i'm the owner and the applicant at 2103 elsewhere street unit b
um where i um am proposing to have parking in an existing uh like side driveway um that's not
currently zoned for parking. So this is the kind of the plan here. This is my house. And this is
a driveway with an existing curb cut here. These are some photos. So this is the front side of the
house on the north side of Ellsworth Street on the 21st block. This is the existing driveway and the
curb cut here. And there's a driveway on this property at 2105 Ellsworth as well. So we share
the curb cut. These are just some more pictures. So I got signatures of support focusing on people
on the 2100 block of Ellsworth as well as Alter Street. I have 22 signatures of support in total,
all were in support. This is the application for appeal
and the project information form. This is the refusal notice. So the refusal was
for the parking spaces accessed by front street. The parking is provided
at required side yard depth and the stacked parking, so back -to -back parking,
is prohibited in the zoning district. This is my certificate of tax clearance.
And this is the notice that I sent out to 83 of my near neighbors within two, I think it was a 250 block radius.
This is the certificate of mailing.
And this was just a zoning notice that was posted at my house for the past three weeks.
And so we held an RCO meeting on March 8th at 6 p .m.
So this is the summary of the meeting from Point Breeze Community Development Coalition.
So we met, there were 39 people who attended, 24 people who voted on this project.
The RCO supported, voted to support the project as well as the community.
So the nearby neighbors within a two block radius voted to support this project.
And those are all my exhibits.
And those are all my exhibits.
Questions from the board?
No, Mr. Chairman.
No, Mr. Chairman.
Questions or comments from the virtual audience?
I see no hands, Chair.
Planning Commission.
Good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the board.
David Vecto, City Planning Commission. The comprehensive plan recommends no change to
the residential single -family zoning at this location. The variances sought appear to memorialize
an existing condition, so the City Planning Commission recommends that the board grant the
variances. Thank you. MI 2021 -004 -656 -2103 -B Ellsworth Street. I vote yes. Harold Tenere,
my vote is yes thomas hallman my vote is yes james snell my vote is yes
thank you thank you good luck thanks number six mi 2021 -004 -740 -2717 salmon street leo mobahill
Councilman Squill, letter of non -opposition
letter of non -opposition
from Old Richmond Civic Association
Mr. Mulvihill
Could you state your name and spell it for the court reporter please
Absolutely, Leo Mulvihill
that's M as in Michael, U -L
V as in Victor, I -H -I -L -L
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Could you identify your client and the relationship with the property?
Certainly. My client's name is Christopher Bretz, that B as in Bravo, R -E -T as in Tom, Z as in Zebra.
He is the owner of the property.
Thank you. And our vice chair has a few questions.
Hi, Mr. Mulvihull. Do you agree to waive the reading of the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy?
It appears that you've submitted all the required documents timely. Is that correct?
okay you may proceed oh good afternoon chairman members of the board this one's pretty easy my
client lives on salmon it goes all the way through to emory um emory backs up on 95 and it's a very
narrow street a number of many people frankly on emory street uh have rear loading garages that
are accessory to their homes on salmon street so my client has one too unfortunately it's not legal
so that's what we're seeking to do today uh what i have here are my exhibits which i asked to be
incorporate into the record the refusal, appeal, and project information form at 1, area zoning
maps at 8, deed at 10, tax clearance at 13, my zoning letter at 14, the RCO letter of
support at 17, photos at 18, and plans at 32.
So members of the board will receive refusals for open area and rear yard, and that's simply
because the parking structure that's facing the rear on Emory Street takes up a little
bit of space and there isn't sufficient open space under the zoning code.
That's basically due to the size of the lot itself and to the fact that we have a minimum
size for these parking structures and that minimum size means that by virtue of its existence,
we don't have sufficient rear yard space under the code.
But that's the case as of many other properties on this block.
So what I'm showing you right here is the subject property.
This is just north of Lehigh Avenue.
Salmon Street here terminates into what I believe is the Conrail Viaduct.
My client's property is highlighted.
Emory Street, for about two -thirds of the street, as you can see, is actually closed
It's a private street.
My client's garage faces Emory Street, where I'm indicating right now with my pointer.
Going to the next page, we see an aerial shot.
This is my client's property here. You can see at least two parking structures that are similar to my client's and many open area parking that are employed by the people on this block of Salmon Street, specifically because Emory is so small, you cannot legally park on it. Salmon Street is rather small as well and terminates here, making it difficult to park on this block as well.
Here's my client's deed, page 10. My client's tax clearance. For whatever reason, I couldn't
get the certificate to work, but the only thing outstanding was 2022 taxes. This is
my notification letter that went out in December. We had a community meeting on January 13th.
There's my proof of mailing at page 16. Here's our letter of support. We had several attendees,
Here's our letter of support.
We had several attendees, only one was able to vote, and that person voted in support.
only one was able to vote.
So I received the letter of support from Michael Manfrone, Old Richmond Civic Association's
zoning chair.
Here's a picture of the zoning sign, oh, pardon me, posted on Salmon Street.
This is towards Emory Street.
You can see the adjacent neighbors using the rear parking pad.
and I'll just go through the photos looking northbound on Emory Street here
we go and you can see this terminates in the viaduct here we have what is not
technically legal parking under 95 but a lot of the neighbors have been using it
we a lot of these gates as you can see with the signs they have no parking
signs and they are used as rear parking this is under 95 again looking northbound eastbound to
richmond street southbound to lehigh avenue and then additional photos of my client's property
and the zoning sign this is just a site plan that was that we have submitted we have our proposed
one car garage that exists here to the right of this drawing pardon me I need
to move my photos out of the way and it's of sufficient size to allow for the
car and some storage cabinets this is the existing side yard this is the open
area along with the existing shared alley so there's not a ton of side yard
but what my client has done is put a roof deck on top of that garage set back
from the street.
My client initially thought this was all going to be legal under the code, and then when
they found out it wasn't, that's when we went through this zoning process to attempt
to get this legalized.
So members of the board, the hardship in this instance is simply there's not enough space
on this parcel to allow for sufficient open area and rear yard under the code.
My client has full community support and a letter of non -opposition from the council
person, so at this point we would ask that you grant the variance for the existing structure
and that's all i have at this point i don't think my client is on uh so i do swear and affirm that
everything i said is true as an officer of the court questions from the board no mr chairman
questions or comments from the virtual audience
i see your hands here planning commission thank you mr chairman david vecto city planning
commission uh mr chairman could i ask a question through the chair to mr we can cool uh leo can
you do me a favor and let me know um how recently was this garage built uh it was within the last
several months, my client received a notice from LNI, which is how they realized that he wasn't
allowed to legally do this. Okay. Well, I'm sorry, but yeah, we're going to have to go on record as
recommending against, since it's such a recent form of construction. Thanks. Thank you.
MI 2021, 004 -740 -2717 Salmon Street. I vote yes.
my vote is yes
Thomas Holloman
my vote is yes
James Snell my vote is yes
thank you members of the board
have a good night
thank you
is there anyone in the virtual audience
whose 330 case has not been heard
I see no handshare
thank you everyone
a little later than I'm used to
this is still early for us chair but thank you thank you everybody you did good bill
tell me about our nine o 'clock sessions
you got it down the river right have a good night all have a good night take care
have a good night everyone dpc zoom thank you for your technical help no problem have a good night
everybody
Good night.